There were 27 floats joining the parade this year and about 100 000 devotees were expected to participate in the walk. There might have been more though.

It was strange to be walking on the main roads which were all closed for the parade. These roads are normally so busy during the day (and night) that having them all to ourselves is surreal.

It certainly was a family affair. Mums, dads, kids, grandmas, grandpas and everyone else participated in the walk. I salute the kids who walked without complaining! I salute the guys and girls who walked alongside us carrying those heavy mineral water bottles to be handed out to anyone who wants one.

Of course there was that temptation to just pop into one of those many Starbucks outlets to grab an icy cold frappucino. Although it did rained and that the walk was at night, it was hot and I was very happy when I finally reached the end so that I can indulged myself with a cold drink.

I can now tick Wesak Day Walk off my list. Next up - maybe Thaipusam?

I had an old blog which had served me faithfully for almost 4 years during my years in Japan. Since I have moved on, I decided to create a new blog. I needed a more structured look so I chose this theme. Simple and straightforward. That is the key. I checked out WordPress and was very impressed with their templates for anyone wanting to showcase their art or photography. Unfortunately, in order to use custom WP templates, one has to pay for a web hosting site which I am not willing to do so at the moment. I am no CSS or HTML genius and I can barely get by blogpost as it is, so I think I am comfortable here.

With the blog layout settled, next came the question of the title. My old blog was called bloggering-away which I thought was pretty cool at that time but I think my taste has changed. I scoured the Internet for inspirations and found many interesting blog names and thought damn, wish that was mine! Since this is primarily a photoblog, I have to find a name that suits the theme and suits me. So I settled on just Images. Simple, no?

I am sure many bloggers out there struggle to write their first post. Should I be witty? Should I be funny? Should I be serious? I am no different. There are times (usually when I am lying in bed trying to sleep) that I have this sudden brainstorm of words and I can write an entire short story in my head before nodding off. And there are times like this. Times when I can't form a single sentence without hitting the delete button over and over again. So I decided to just keep it simple - in keeping with the overall theme. I will write about how I chose the layout, the title and the photos that accompany this post.

Autumn is my favourite season in Japan. I love the deep set orange and red hues and how the entire landscape just changes with the season. I have not posted these pictures before - they were sitting in my hard drive for ages before I found them. I thought I would give a nod to Japan in the first post since that was where I first started blogging and found my passion in photography. And what better way to do that than to post pictures of my favourite season?

So to those who happened to stumble upon my blog by chance - I thank you for reading it. To my faithful friends who have followed my journey 4 years ago till now, I thank you humbly from the bottom of my heart.

To a new blog, to a new chapter in life!