This is one of the most tiring day, but also the most enjoyable one. Had not been looking forward to this day, as I thought it would be tiring. Turned out the route was very well planned with lots of things to see.

We purchased the Express Romance Train ticket to Hakone on Day 1, which meant we had to be on the train by 7.28am sharp. Japanese are very punctual people, it turned out that the train really moved out of the station at that time. Impressed. Like the Narita Express, seats were already assigned with cable number, row number and seat number. It was a comfortable ride. The cheaper ride will have many more stops in between, and we are not guaranteed a seat.

Upon reaching Hakone, we took the Tozan bus to Toy Museum (which turned out to be not very interesting) and Kowakien Yunessun (a begonia garden which we didn't want to go in cos tickets are expensive. the shop outside is a great place to buy souvenirs).

Armed with too many boxes of souvenirs, we had to go back to the Romance Car station to place them in the lockers and took the Tozan train up to Gora instead. Along the way, we got down to visit some of the more interesting spots. The scenary was really great and I thought our cameras could not justify its beauty.

Everything was perfect, except for the difficulty in hunting for food. Could not find a decent restaurant at Gora. Had no choice but to have hotdog and fried soba for lunch and it cost close to 800 yen per person.

Took the Tozan cablecar to Sounzan (the place I had my fried Soba). After which, it was via ropeway to Owakudani and Togendai. Owakudani is a volcanic valley, famous for its scenic views and  Kuro-tamago— a local specialty of eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. Hello Kitty is everywhere in Hakone.

Togendai station is on the shores of Lake Aishi. From there, we took the "pirate ship" to Hakone Machi.

Was trying to take photos on the ship (none of which turned out nice). It was getting dark when we reached Machi and we decided to take the Tozan bus back to Hakone Yumoto and leave for Shinjuku and eventually Ikebukuro. Luckily we got the Hakone Freepass, which offers unlimited boarding of transportation in Hakone (around 7000 yen per person, inclusive of the romance car ride). The bus journey itself cost more than 800 yen per person. Gosh.

Returned to Ikebukuro pretty early that evening and we had dinner at another restaurant near the hotel. It was the best Japanese food I had tasted so far. The ingredients used were good and the chefs are skillful. Too bad smoking was allowed in the restaurant which made WQ feel rather uncomfortable.