I am going to... yume

A few days ago an old man on a bike stopped to talk to me in Japanese. The only thing I understood was the question "where are you going?" to which I racked my brain (I was going to the ocean, what was that word again?), pointed to the ocean, and responded "yume!"
"ume?" He corrected me.
"Ah, so, ume, ahaha, arigato."
It turns out I had pointed and told him I was going to go to a dream.

Yesterday, Thursday, was my day off and it felt like I had walked straight into a yume. I spent the morning with V and Echan looking for a puppy, and along the way we stopped to examine a mountain shrine. The hike was long and strenuous, especially because I hadn't exercised at all during the time spent studying the LSAT, but worth it.

For lunch we had delicious takoyaki, soba, and gyu-don. Then it was off to the mountains where we drove for half an hour to get to one small cafe tucked way away from everything. There was a slight but fortunate detour when we got lost; we found and played on a playground set built onto the mountains with a giant slide. But eventually we made it to Ippo cafe. The cafe building was constructed by the father of the owner. As we crossed the small river and neared the cafe the sound of coffee and live guitar music greeted us.

I didn't get a picture of the owner and his friend practicing guitar (let me tell you, it was magical) but I do have some shots of the place that don't do the atmosphere any justice.

The day ended with a big pot of nabe and new friends. Oh, and a chick flick on a sheet hung up on the wall. All in all a beautiful day off in Ishinomaki, Japan.