The last time I was in Malaysia, I learned that Putrajaya was a thriving place because it is now considered as the country’s administrative capital, housing the offices of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ministers of the different departments in the executive branch of their government.
This time around, upon my return, my friend and I planned a short trip to Putrajaya in between our international and domestic flights because the city was close to the airport. We boarded the bus that would take us to the KLIA transit from LCCT to Putrajaya. The bus took us to the Selak Tinggi station, one of the four stations of the KLIA express.
In every travel, you’d often meet strangers on the road. Sometimes you’d exchange a smile, lend a hand, strike a conversation, or even exchange numbers. We met Josef in the train. He was on our flight from Manila and was in KL for a short visit. Josef, who is Spanish, works as an IT guy in an insurance company in Madrid and was in the Philippines for work. He took the opportunity to visit neighboring country, Malaysia. As our train stopped in Putrajaya, we bid him adieu and gave him some tips on what to do in KL. Little did we know that we’d be in the same flight again back to Manila.
Putrajaya was anything that I haven’t expected. Dubbed as the Garden City, it was so different from KL in such a way that it was modern yet quiet and peaceful. It also had various interesting architectures. Most of all, the urban planning was splendid.
At the train station, we checked the schedule of the train and we decided to come back for the 7:20 trip. That would give us ample time to make it to our 9:25 flight. Not knowing where we were really headed, we grabbed some brochures and decided to visit the gardens, particularly the Taman Putra Perdana. We asked around and we received blank stares. One policeman told us to take bus 101. We went through the rows of bus platforms to look for No. 101. The driver of bus No. 100 told us that he would take us there.
The bus took us around rows of beautiful houses. It was like riding around a village or a suburb. There were some boys playing football, toddlers running around a playground, and some moms talking. Coffee shops, laundry stores, pharmacy…the complex had everything. As we were looking at the sights we passed by, we realized that the bus had the tendency to pass through almost every street and block.
Finally the Seri Wawasan Bridge, one of the most beautiful cable-stayed bridges in Malaysia, came into view. It was beautiful from afar. Then we crossed the Seri Perdana Bridge, which gave us a breathtaking view of the Putra Mosque and the Perdana Putra with the Lake Putrajaya in the background.
As the bus took the left, the driver dropped us at the next stop. It was a highway and we didn’t see any entrance for pedestrians towards Taman Putra Perdana. Only cars were going in and out at the other side of the road. With our backpacks on tow, we walked back and forth surrounded by plants and trees and infested by mosquitoes.
We stopped and stared at the beautiful building perched on top of the hill. We were wondering how to get to the other side and climb towards the building. Little did we know that it was the Istana Melawati, the royal retreat of His Majesty the King of Malaysia and the royal family. It is also considered the highest point in Putrajaya. With nowhere to go, we went back to the bus stop and continued to the intersection. As we walked further, we saw the entrance to the Taman Botani but it seemed deserted. As we walked towards Perdana Putra, the setting sun caught our attention. Its glow reflected wonderfully on Lake Putrajaya.
We decided to go back to the train station. After we asked the locals we met along the way, we took bus no. 300. The bus showed us the rest of Putrajaya’s sights, like the Alamanda and the Putrajaya International Convention Center. After like 20 minutes of going around, our bus headed back to the stop where we boarded. It turned into a different direction and went around various complexes. As we got to the train station, the next trip was already scheduled at 8:20.
Our trip to Putrajaya made us miss our flight to Langkawi. But we didn’t regret taking the adventure. It even led us to another adventure on the road.
That place was huge with intimidating structures like large bridges, spacious sidewalks and the awesome mosques…a city built from scratch at an astounding $$$. Malaysia’s way of saying “We’ve made it”.