After a late night out with Rahmat, Zai, Zol and Sharifah we oversleep... the alarm was set for 7am but a quick look out at the Towers and it's still dark so, just a few more minutes.
An hour and a half later we are woken by a text message from Rahmat... he is free to take us for a tour of the Malaysian capitol, Putrajaya, about an hour south of the city. He'll pick us up from the hotel at 10am! We rush getting ready and organise clothes to be washed and find we have no time for breakfast. A quick coffee in our room will have to do... how miss my morning bowl of hot steaming Pho!
Rahmat is right on time and we head through busy city traffic on the way south. In no time we are on one of the freeways which are like a spiders web across the city. The RTA could do worse than send some of their morons up here to learn how to build transport infrastructure... the freeways here are 3-4 lane either way and are fabulous to drive on. Sure they get traffic jams but even then, it's better than sitting in a car park on Parramatta Road!
In an hour we take the exit to Putrajaya. We have often been past this new city, built about 12 years ago out of jungle and palm plantations, but have never actually been there. The tops of spectacular bridges and other buildings have looked inviting and now we are going to see what it's really like.
Once we start getting into the city environs we are presented with scenes of jaw-dropping architecture, a man-made lake, amazing bridges and wide streets. It's been well planned and some serious money has been spent here building structures that showcase the Moorish architectural influence. It quite simply is unbelieveable that all this was jungle just 12 years ago!
There is a cycling event taking place today so many streets are blocked by Police but Rahmat navigates his way to the large mosque which stands imposingly beside the lake.
There are tourists everywhere, mainly Japanese and people from Middle Eastern countries. Rahmat leads us down to the lakeside where he books a cruise on the lake and then we go and have a coffee. It's a typical Malaysian R&R... many restaurants and shops selling Malaysian food and it looks and smells delicious.
We board the cruise boat along with a rowdy group of Middle Eastern guys who should be thrown overboard... they completely ignore the guide giving his talk about the city sights and they insist want to go out on deck. Some people!!!
The cruise runs along the length of the lake and you get a great view of the architecture and buildings not to mention a close up view of the bridges which are stunning. Rahmat and Zai have bought a house in Putrajaya and will be moving there next year.
Rahmat then takes us to the club by the lake where we grab a bite to eat before heading back to our hotel as Rahmat has to pick up his daughter from school at 3pm.
Liz and I freshen up... it's hot and humid outside... and then we grab a cab to Cap Square where I find a camera store that sells camera straps. After almost losing the G2 in Vietnam I need something more substantial. CapSquare is a new shopping centre and half the shops are empty but amazingly one of the camera stores has just what I want and at a good price. While there we also visit the Tom Tom GPS store and buy a GPS to guide us on the next leg of our trip to Penang.
Rahmat and Zai have invited us to join Zol and Sharifah for a Brazilian dinner and arrange for us to be picked up at 6:30pm. Right on time, a flash Mercedes pulls up at the hotel lobby and to our surprise the driver advises that he is there to pick us up and take us to dinner. It turns out that this is Zol's driver! Zol holds a very senior position in a large health company and one of the perks is a new car and a driver on call. Talk about doing it in style!
We navigate the evening traffic and drive to Zol's gated-estate apartment where Zol givers his driver the night off and he and Sharifah drive us to meet rahmat and Zai and the restaurant.
We've never tried a Brazilian restaurant before so it turns out to be a real experience. The servers hover around with various meats on skewers and deftly wielding long knives, like Errol Flynn in a buccaneer movie, they carve off a slice of lamb or chicken or fish. It is absolutely delicious and all halal of course as our hosts are strict Muslims.
We start with the stories and before long we are laughing and joking in between tasting the food which comes thick and fast. Zai recommends the Mango dessert which is just heavenly but will no doubt send my BGLs to the moon!
After another wonderful evening amongst perfect hosts and good company, Rahmat and Zai load us into their BMW (top of the line model no less) and drive us back to Traders. Maybe we'll catch up with them before we head back home... they have been marvelous and have made us feel very welcome. Malaysian hospitality at its best.
Tomorrow we're off to the elephant sanctuary so stay tuned.
An hour and a half later we are woken by a text message from Rahmat... he is free to take us for a tour of the Malaysian capitol, Putrajaya, about an hour south of the city. He'll pick us up from the hotel at 10am! We rush getting ready and organise clothes to be washed and find we have no time for breakfast. A quick coffee in our room will have to do... how miss my morning bowl of hot steaming Pho!
Rahmat is right on time and we head through busy city traffic on the way south. In no time we are on one of the freeways which are like a spiders web across the city. The RTA could do worse than send some of their morons up here to learn how to build transport infrastructure... the freeways here are 3-4 lane either way and are fabulous to drive on. Sure they get traffic jams but even then, it's better than sitting in a car park on Parramatta Road!
Once we start getting into the city environs we are presented with scenes of jaw-dropping architecture, a man-made lake, amazing bridges and wide streets. It's been well planned and some serious money has been spent here building structures that showcase the Moorish architectural influence. It quite simply is unbelieveable that all this was jungle just 12 years ago!
There are tourists everywhere, mainly Japanese and people from Middle Eastern countries. Rahmat leads us down to the lakeside where he books a cruise on the lake and then we go and have a coffee. It's a typical Malaysian R&R... many restaurants and shops selling Malaysian food and it looks and smells delicious.
We board the cruise boat along with a rowdy group of Middle Eastern guys who should be thrown overboard... they completely ignore the guide giving his talk about the city sights and they insist want to go out on deck. Some people!!!
Rahmat then takes us to the club by the lake where we grab a bite to eat before heading back to our hotel as Rahmat has to pick up his daughter from school at 3pm.
Liz and I freshen up... it's hot and humid outside... and then we grab a cab to Cap Square where I find a camera store that sells camera straps. After almost losing the G2 in Vietnam I need something more substantial. CapSquare is a new shopping centre and half the shops are empty but amazingly one of the camera stores has just what I want and at a good price. While there we also visit the Tom Tom GPS store and buy a GPS to guide us on the next leg of our trip to Penang.
Rahmat and Zai have invited us to join Zol and Sharifah for a Brazilian dinner and arrange for us to be picked up at 6:30pm. Right on time, a flash Mercedes pulls up at the hotel lobby and to our surprise the driver advises that he is there to pick us up and take us to dinner. It turns out that this is Zol's driver! Zol holds a very senior position in a large health company and one of the perks is a new car and a driver on call. Talk about doing it in style!
We navigate the evening traffic and drive to Zol's gated-estate apartment where Zol givers his driver the night off and he and Sharifah drive us to meet rahmat and Zai and the restaurant.
We've never tried a Brazilian restaurant before so it turns out to be a real experience. The servers hover around with various meats on skewers and deftly wielding long knives, like Errol Flynn in a buccaneer movie, they carve off a slice of lamb or chicken or fish. It is absolutely delicious and all halal of course as our hosts are strict Muslims.
After another wonderful evening amongst perfect hosts and good company, Rahmat and Zai load us into their BMW (top of the line model no less) and drive us back to Traders. Maybe we'll catch up with them before we head back home... they have been marvelous and have made us feel very welcome. Malaysian hospitality at its best.
Tomorrow we're off to the elephant sanctuary so stay tuned.
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