Deserted Pathways at the Putrajaya Hill

It's a charmed day spent when you're just lazily walking along Putra Perdana Garden at the top of a hill - with sun on your face and wind on your hair. You need to have a bottle of water with you since there are no canteens nor ambulant vendors at the hilltop. Of course, there's the Shangri-La Hotel, but do you really venture on getting your Coca Cola from this boutique hotel?

GOOD AND BAD MEMORIES

There was a time I steered clear from parks. You would too if you were mugged by a couple of maruecos at a lovely park in Madrid, just 2 hours off my Parisian train. But paranoia heals with time; the scars left are mere footnotes at the back of your head. But since then, I have had this love-hate affair with parks. In fact, once back in London, I couldn't pass the day over without a visit to one of the city's (where I lived for 2 years) royal or public parks. Regent's Park was a favorite, with its swans poetically gliding the glistening algae-infested waters; so was Green Park near the palace. The sprawling Hyde Park near Kensington Palace. And of course, Cricklewood Park just 2 blocks from my flat, where I have taken a hundred runs to stay fit or just to clear my mind from my solitary existence in the British capital. I particularly remember a day after a tiresome run where a woman passed me by to remark, "You are not going to make it!" Haha. I must have looked like I was gonna drop down the grounds. I stayed under a canopy and heard the sound of saxophone lustily blowing a music that stirs my soul.

This garden on Putrajaya Hill brings back such memories, and frees my mind like an Eye in the Sky!

Marooned pathway and yellow bird-of-paradise.

Putrajaya sits around a 400-hectare man-made lake and wetlands. Seri Wawasan Bridge, one of 8 bridges in the city, is seen here.

From the hilltop, you climb down the hill to get to this waiting shed for your bus around town (just 50 cents) or an 8-ringgit taxi ride anywhere in the city center. Or you can walk further to see the Prime Minister's Office and the pink Putra Mosque.

Climbing down the hill.

Up next: Prime Minister's Office (Putra Perdana)

Putrajaya Landmark on the Hill

Time capsules are a curious concept because it encapsulates a piece of history and throws it under the ground like dead corpses, like open secrets. Yet monuments are constructed above it to make sure they aren't forgotten. The Putrajaya Landmark - aka Putra Perdana Landmark or Mercu Tanda (whew!) - is such place. It was built to commemorate the birth of Putrajaya, an "Intelligent Garden City" with an intended population of 300,000 (but currently running 70,000). This was implanted by the visionary former Prime Minister - Tun Dr. Mahathir, the brains responsible for the economic upturn of Malaysia.

This hilltop garden complex is part of the Taman Perdana Putra (Garden of the Prime Minister's Office) located down the hill, just across the street. I have to say that this garden has excellent winding tracks at the top, but the way down to the Waiting Shed (where you can hail your bus or taxi) and the Prime Minister's Office is through unmarked grassy downhill, and isn't particularly easy for seniors and the unfit adventurers.

The landmark proudly stands at the end of an avenue of stairs and stately fountains; at the peak of which is the enviable 5-star Shangri-La Hotel where, I can only imagine a seasonal good occupancy. Click here for an image of the hotel: http://www.shangri-la.com/assets/C41BCF3E-1E23-4CFC-84FD-5156D1E68D5B.jpg

The garden is well maintained despite the fact that there isn't a lot of people navigating this hilltop complex. In fact, for 30 minutes, I was the only one there (except for a gardener who was unmindful of my presence). There are benches strewn all over the area and when you just wanna sit back and think of nothing, you could think of thousands of places worse than this.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Shangri-La Hotel, a 5-star boutique hotel, rises at the end of this boulevard.

Up next: Rolling greens and winding tracks around Putra Perdana Garden.