We were served dinner tonight by a grumpy waitress. At home this wouldn’t be considered a strange thing but it is the first time that the service we have received in Japan has not been excellent. The waitress still served us quickly, brought us iced water when we arrived and even tidied up our shoes (we had to take our shoes off before we could sit down at the table and we still haven’t worked out where we are supposed to set them) but she looked like she wanted to be somewhere else.

I haven’t been able to work out why the service in Japan is so good compared to the service we receive at home. In some places it has been even better than the service I have received at expensive restaurants in America. Maybe by the end of the holiday I will have worked it out.

Tonight the people of Nara had lined the streets with candle lanterns to guide the spirits of their dead ancestors.

We went to see Todaiji Temple today. I took loads of pictures including some in black and white using Fuji Neopan 1600. It’s quite dark inside the temple and tripods are not allowed. Andrew was quite surprised at my choice of film. But then I was quite surprised at his attitude towards using high speed black and white film. He doesn’t like grainy pictures and thinks that since we can now get colour film why bother with black and white? Philistine!