Hakone - Sulfer Eggs and Pirate Ship

The week after Mike got back from Indonesia, we took a short trip to Hakone. We had been before to the Yunessun before but we had not known at the time about all the other fun stuff there. Just so you know, this is a super long post. There was so much beautiful scenery.

We had some great views of Mt. Fuji on this trip.

We stopped off for a pit stop and found this interesting looking pirate man. We have no idea what it was about.

She loves her sister, but I don't know that Vivian was enjoying it.

I just had to know what this candy was. It actually looked just like that picture in the lower right hand corner and yes, it even had the face on it. And it was grapefruit flavored. It was not very good and kind of creepy.

Oh Japan.

We had actually stopped last time we were in Hakone to take pictures of the hotel we stayed at this time. It's apparently a really famous hotel. It is the oldest operating hotel in all of Japan! It's called the Fujiya Hotel. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Hellen Keller and John Lennon have visited the hotel. It's usually a little pricey, but we got a deal for being passport holders. We figured out why we got the good deal. We ended up getting one of the rooms that looked like it hadn't been remodeled since the 70's. But it was fun to stay there and get to see some cool parts of the hotel.

This was one of the restaurants.

Mike got some good pictures of the girls playing on this red bridge in front of the hotel. This hotel had some of the best scenery.

For dinner the first night, we ate at a Korean restaurant.

The girls weren't that into the Korean food so we bought them some corn-dogs.  Japanese corn-dogs are the best!

The next day we took a train to a cable car then to a tram. The girls enjoyed it all.

On the train.

On the cable car.

The cable car is pulled by this huge reel.

On the tram.

The beautiful view. We don't see things like this too often in the city.

Over the sulfur crater. This picture doesn't do it justice.

These eggs are boiled in the sulfur. The outsides are black, but the insides looked normal. Some Japanese believe if you eat an egg, it will add 7 years to your life.

She must have been hungry. She ended up being about 3 of them. Twenty-one years to her life! 

Chowing down.

Love this car and with Fuji in the background.

This restaurant had black ramen. We want to eat there next time. The smoke is where they boil the eggs. We didn't want to walk up there with all the kids though. It was a bit of a hike.

The lady we bought the eggs from. They were 500 yen for 5 of them.

Hello kitty in a black egg.

 Hello Kitty loves sulfur eggs.

We were trying to get a picture in this tram with conductor jackets and hats.

We were struggling a bit.

They only wanted me to wear the stuff.

Back on the tram to see the pirate ships.

This was the view for our lunch that day.

Tonkatsu curry on left and beef stew on the right (those are eggs).

Getting ready to ride the ship.

This was the coolest ship of all. We had to wait about 30 minutes longer to ride it. We had already been waiting a little while.

View from our ship.

It was pretty windy and a bit cool on the deck.

So we headed down and stayed inside for some of the ride.

After we made it to the other side of the lake, we had some ice cream with Mr. Gorilla and his Samaria sword.

Mike had purple potato ice cream. It wasn't as bad as the tofu, but still not my choice of ice cream.

The Fujiya Hotel

John Lennon once dined at the Orchid Lounge.

Pretty staircase. I would take this in my house. =)

Love this dragon.

This stairway goes down to the entrance of the hotel. 

Tried to get a family picture in front of the sign, but it was overexposed and Annabelle was hiding.

One section of the hotel room.

This was guest house.

You could have a wedding at this hotel. We were looking at the prices. I don't think there was any package under $20,000.

I love the architecture in Japan.

She had gum in her mouth... her teeth ARE NOT rotting out. =)

In the back of the hotel there is a huge garden.

They had koi.

Another wedding area. Annabelle tried to ring the bell.

They love playing in the dirt.

Huge wasp!

Running through the hallways. I'm sure they were happy to see us go.

Our waitress

We were letting the girls watch TV while we got ready. This show was hilarious. A kid's pirate show in English. But it said "pirates play together for adventure, Princesses go 'tee-hee-hee'". Nice Japan.

We wrote letters to grandparents.

Out our window you could see the train.

Our messy room.

Bathroom

The view from our floor.

More running in hallway and being loud Americans.

While Mike was checking out, the girls were running around the sun room.

Riding on the train with Hello Kitty.

We went to the Gora Park. They were having a glass blowing class.

The grounds were really pretty.

I want to be a supermodel!

They had a few greenhouses.

For lunch, we had curry again and some ramen. Curry is one of my new favorite Japanese dishes. It's different than curry from other countries.

This is an add for the Yunessun. Cloths on or off. 

We got a picture with some of the staff of the hotel before we left. The lady in the back was especially helpful.

Our drive home...

We found this place on the way home and Mike had to try some.

This was one of their signs out front.

Mike got a picture of the inside.

Mike ordered chorizo and carnitas. Some of the strangest tacos ever. They weren't bad though.

I don't know the the "fAG" store would be very accepted in America.

We also spotted NeNe's bus... "Principle Auto Mobile" with a space in the middle of Auto and Mobile.

And yes, even in Japan McDonald's is making people fat. Maybe because they try to entice people with a giant fry box.

Anyway... a fun trip to Hakone. We'll definitely go again!