2018 Singapore-Thailand Drive – Putrajaya Paradise

Day 19 – Taiping to Putrajaya

The empty roads of Malaysia’s paradise city

Today’s drive is a 300km leg which takes us to perfect Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia. Superbly maintained and with its striking architecture, this city is unlike any other in Malaysia. It almost seems like it is from a different planet to the rest of the country.

Often overlooked by tourists, it is a great place to go if you don’t like crowds. With its empty streets and pavements, this is the perfect place to hide away for a few days. You can go for a long peaceful jog or bicycle ride along the scenic waterfront, or soak in the pool for the whole day.

Approaching the elegant Seri Saujana Bridge

There are some absolutely beautiful bridges that take the non-existent traffic over the Putrajaya lake, a huge man-made 650 hectare water body designed as a cooling agent for the city centre.

With the plentiful greenery all around, Putrajaya also feels like a city within a park. It is probably the best example of urban planning you will find in all of Malaysia. Even the lamp posts look space age!

Even the lamp posts look as though they have been made for the space age!

Don’t forget to pay a visit to the stunning Putra Mosque, which stands like a jewel adorning the Putrajaya lake.

Putrajaya Mosque (Photograph by Rosli Rich)

https://pixabay.com/en/putrajaya-mosque-muslim-malaysia-569809/

The down side about Putrajaya is that there is not much choice around town in terms of food or entertainment. Thankfully we have the car with us, and we are able to head out to the nearest shopping centre at the Alamanda to get dinner and to do a bit of shopping.

Our hotel is the Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside, which is supposed to be a 5* resort but is in desperate need of renovations. The rooms are nice and large but the furnishings are aging fast and the plumbing is in need of some work. There are also some safety issues to address in the cafe due to the confusing split levels within the restaurant. My wife fell because she tripped over a hidden step she didn’t notice. On another morning I also slipped on the wet floor in the cafe and almost took a tumble of my own. Needless to say, we weren’t all too happy with this standard of service, especially from a 5* resort.

On the positive side, we having booked one apartment and a normal room, we were pleasantly surprised to get a room upgrade such that we had two apartments side by side. The kids and our friend who joined us for our return drive from Phuket enjoyed the extra space. It is amazing how skillful we are at messing up the huge rooms even within a few hours of arrival.

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This was part 19 of my blog series, for my concluding thoughts, please click HERE!