Today, Friday Oct 14th, we were able to make the trek out to Hakone. It was about a 2 hour drive, and all 5 of us crammed into the tiny little car to get there. I can definitely say it wasn’t the most comfortable ride as a result. We didn’t stay too long, but took a ride on the “pirate ship” cruise they had which crosses the lake which Hakone sits on.

Today was another day of rest for everyone. The plan was to head out to a little resort town in the mountains called Hakone, but one of the party members here was sick so we opted to just hang around the house. I did wander down to the beach toward the middle of the day and snapped the following pictures. It was a nice day, not too hot, nor cold.

Today, Tuesday Oct 11th, I took the train up into Tokyo to visit “Akiba” (Akihabara). It’s about $20 for one-way and takes roughly 2 hours. It was a bit overwhelming with all the happenings going on there. Anything doujinshi/manga or anime that you want to find, you’ll definitely find it here. There were also arcades and game shops with tons of crane machines. Of course I saw the expected “Maids” standing on the street corners pushing their shop’s fliers to passers by.

Today, Monday Oct 10th, I wandered out on one of the bikes my cousins' have which has an electric assistance motor (makes for much easier pedaling up and down hills, wish I could get one back in the US). I didn’t take any pictures, other than a shot of the statues and start of the long roadway which leads up the main avenue of Kamakura to the shrine there. I couldn’t really find a place to park the bike on a rack or whatever so I could wander up to the shrine and take pictures, but hope to get back here soon and take some real pictures.

Today, Sunday Oct 9th, was pretty much another day of rest for everyone including me. Walking around everywhere takes some getting used to if you aren’t used to it. I didn’t do much, but I did wander down to the beach for the 2nd night of “blue lights” in the evening. I took a several more pictures which turned out okay, but still wishing I had brought my tripod with me.