7] OUR LAST DAY IN MALAYSIA

7] OUR LAST DAY MALAYSIA

Today is the last over here in Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to the mismanaged itinerary by Fantastic Holidays SDN,BHD or  rather not  sticking to the initial itinerary provided to us by them through Get Out Holidays, India, we have very hectic and busy (jam-packed) schedule today.  Check out at 12 pm. We have Putrajaya tour with river cruise, have lunch, and then proceed to the airport. We have early breakfast in Grand Seasons. It’s buffet breakfast. A very good one!

Till 12, we have plenty of time on our hands. Let’s visit the pool. Here we are! 

https://www.facebook.com/vinay.trilokekar/videos/1484720961558647/

And here is the Grand Palace Spa!

It’s almost 12. It’s time to check out. We check out, it’s self check out- just swipe your room card and give the card at the reception and that’s it. We wait in the lobby. OMG! There is now no WiFi - network on my mobile. At the reception they tell me that once you check out you won’t get that facility. I approach the lobby manager, who instructs the receptionist. She switches on for me. But my mobile still doesn’t have. The lobby Manager tries, but he can’t. He summons a technician and get the connection. Time passes … 12, 1.00, 1.30pm. I call the local Tour coordinator. He tells me that car will come at 2.00 pm. In the mean time I make calls and send WhatsApp msgs.  

  I receive call from Syarmi, whom we had met in the flight. “Uncle, I saw your missed calls. I was out. I had told my mother that you and aunty would come to me meet us. We were expecting and looking forward to it. Bon voyage! Let me talk to aunty.” We should have gone to her place, says my wife. First let her visit us and we shall reciprocate, I tell her.

Oh, there comes the couch. I hope it’s not Aman. No it is someone else. " विनय साहब ? चलो ! मैं  राज।  सब मुझे राजू बोलते है l पहले आपको खानेको लेचलते।  बादमे पुत्राजया।  फिर रीवर क्रूज़।  और बादमे आपको  बिदा करेंगे  एयरपोर्टसे।

 Needless to tell that we go to Jaipur Mahel. Then our Putrajaya tour begins on a good note. Rajubhai is quite informative. On the way we pick up one lady, who accompanied us up to PICC. She did not speak a word in the coach. 
"  पुत्राजया  साहब,वहाँ जो  दिखता है  वह  है  नॅशनल  पुत्रा मॉस्क  या  पुत्रा मस्जिद," Rajubhai begins, " हम गाड़ी पार्क करेंगे ... फोटो -बिटो  लेलो।  बहुत बड़ा है। .. कुछ १५००० भक्त अंदर प्रार्थना कर सकते है। बोलते है  की  यह मीनार (Minaret)  कुछ ७५ मीटर ऊँचा है ... पूरा कोंक्रिट और ग्रेनाइट है ।"
 We are unable to enter the mosque. During certain period of the day only the Muslims are allowed in and even otherwise one has to wear pink robes to go in.
 

Just across we come to Perdana Putra (the Prime Minister’s office) and proceed further.

 " विनय भाई, यहाँ भी एक फोटो लेलो।  आपको संस्कृत आता है ? पुत्राजया नाम इस तरह बना.. ऐसे लोग बोलते है  ... पुत्र  मतलब  लड़का-- राज पुत्र  और जय होता है वियय.. बराबर ? (In Sanskrit, "putra" means "prince" or "male child", and "jaya" means "success" or "victory")। "

Thus I gather some information from him and some other details I get from other sources.

Putrajaya, which is officially called the Federal Territory (third Federal Territatory) of Putrajaya, and named after the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, is a planned city and the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, because of overcrowding and congestion in Kuala Lumpur. However, Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia's national capital, and is the seat of the King and the Parliament, and is the country's commercial and financial centre. Putrajaya was the idea of former Prime Minister TunDr.MahathirMohammad. . The development of Putrajaya started in the early 1990s; today, major landmarks have been completed and the population is expected to grow in the near future. It has several Public buildings and monuments, like Perdana Putra (the Prime Minister’s office), Istana Melawati, Putra Mosque (The Putra Mosque is located next to Perdana Putra), Seri Perdana (Priminister’s residence), Palace Of Justice, Putrajaya International Convention Centre, Putrajaya Land Mark and National Heroes Square. There open space like Putrajaya Lake, Putra Square, Putra Wetland Park and Putra Botanical Garden. Putrajaya , with its vibrant green spaces, wide and winding waterways and bridges galore,  and its beauty and effortless serenity is treat to watch.

Then we come to Seri Gemilang Bridge and some more photo shoot with all ears and eyes open to gather more information. Let's first frame our Rajubhai :

 See how eagerly he is giving the information this bridge. So load and clear that I can hear  his every word!  "......  ये  पूल  बड़ाही  लैण्ड  मार्क होगा..... ऐसे  तो हैभी ये ब्रिज महत्वका अबभी । .. "

It  is a ceremonial bridge in Putrajaya, Malaysia. It connects Heritage Square with PICC. It has a main span 120 metres (394 ft) long, with a 60-metre (197 ft) span at each end, for a total length of 240 metres (787 ft). There are six traffic lanes, each 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) wide. The deck level above the water is 36.75 metres (121 ft) at the centre of the bridge. The road from the bridge leads to he Putrajaya International Convention Centre [(PICC, Malay or Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya) at the end. The bridge will be a landmark in Putrajaya serving as the main entrance to the Core Island from the south for motorists and pedestrians. The special features of the bridge are that it is constructed using balusters fabricated from precast stone, and has specially designed lamp posts and distinctly designed towers.
And off we go to the Putrajaya International Convention Centre [(PICC, Malay or Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya).

"अंदर बहुत सरे हॉल  है - प्लेनरी हॉल  जहाँ  ३००० नुमायंदे यानिकी प्रतिनिधि  बहैठ सकते है, पराधना हॉल  जहां भी  ३००० लोगोंकेलिये  खानेकी व्यवस्था है , और  बहुत सरे हॉल। बोलते है , यहाँ  VIP के वास्ते खास प्रभंध है।  उनकेलिए अनेक भाषाकेँ अनुवादक (interpreters)रखे है।  बहुत किचन , बैंकुएट हॉल (banquets) ,  खास होटल कमरे (suites), प्रतीक्षालय  (lounges),रेस्टोरंट (restaurants), प्रार्थना घर (prayer rooms), बूथ (kiosks) और बहुत कुछ। दो बड़े एंट्रेंस है - एक ग्राऊंड फ्लोर और दूसरा  ऊपर (Mezzanine level)"
PICC is the main convention centre in Putrajaya located on the top of Taman Puncak Selatan in Precinct 5. PICC receives a yearly average of more than 230,000 delegates and 15,000 visitors around the world since 2006. It can accommodate up to 10,000 people, with more than 57 halls and small rooms ready to be used.

The design of the building is based on the shape of the eye of 'pending perak' (a silver Malay royal belt buckle). However, the structure of the roof was designed similar to a folded origami to alleviate the plain roundness of the structure. From the front view, the building's eaves or wings are lifted at the sides, creating broad over hangings over the raking wall. Most of the walls are made of glass, so natural sunlight can easily illuminate the auditorium through the raked and shaded windows.  

The roof structure, which is geometrically complex, covers the plenary hall and the column-free banquet hall. The latter space can accommodate 3000 delegates, each with an uninterrupted view of the stage with the conference and main auditorium floors above supported on a sculptural system of radial arms.

Surrounding these main spaces the ancillary accommodation follows a conical geometry with the rings increasing in diameter up the building to provide the larger area needed for the plenary hall itself.

The main road leads to the convention centre over Seri Gemilang Bridge.

 Now it''s time to move and go for the river cruise. We reach at 4 pm . Rajubhai tells us that he would wait for us at the gate. We have missed the earlier . Now we have to wait for 30 minutes. I am worried. We have a flight to catch. Rajubhai assures us that we would make it in time. So again photo shoot during this 30 minute wait.

 We are the first ones to enter.

It is almost six. OMG! it's past 6.30! We have to report at 7.We have to get one of our bags bubble packed. We go straight to the airport. Terminal M is on the fourth floor. There is a lift, which we can take, tells Rajubhai and bid us good bye, we thank him and move towards the lift with two check in bags and three hand bags. To our surprise Raju has followed us in and helps up with our baggage right up to the terminal gate. This time the good bye is final. We get bag bubble packed. We check in and get our boarding passes.We have to go to the 'Duty Free', I need to buy my stuff, you know what I mean. We have to hurry. It's 7.30 already. I can't think straight... what do I buy? One litre of Johnnie Walker black label... what else.... Chivas, no... My wife says, " Common, get on with it. Buy something fast otherwise will miss our flight."

"Sir, buy this. There is a leather bag plus French liqueur Bénédictine. Both complimentary on purchase of two bottles of Dewar's Wiskey." Dewar's ? I have never tried it or even heard about it. But I don't want to show my ignorance. So I say, "Oh, a bag and with it Dewar's and liqueur too! Wow! Great!"

We take the trolley bag with all the stuff packed inside and rush to the gate. Board of MH 194 is already in process. There is still a small queue. So we not the only ones who are let. We join in. There is a lady in front of us. She asks my wife to move ahead of her. " तुम्ही महाराष्ट्रीयन आहेत न ? मी मुक्ता अफाले. पुण्याची," she tells us, "I had a conference and now I am going back home."  Then there is long talk between the the two ladies in which they must have exchanged notes. I heave a sigh of relief now that we are actually on the aero-bridge. Two ladies part company as she moves to the 'business class' and we slowly advance to our seats in the 'economy'. But by this time both know the full family history of each other. My wife has all the information about her, her maiden name, her young child being a son and he being only child as of now, how she is a professional, who travels extensively on business trips, so on and so forth.    
  The plane takes off with us and with our share of moments and beautiful memories. 

We are some thirty minutes in the flight. There is announcement,” This is your captain, Muhhamed. Kindly fasten your belts, we are experiencing turbulence…,” emotionally detached one over PA. Why do the captains always remain in their cockpit or behind the cockpit doors? The mere announcement has raised the anticipatory anxiety in me. It comes out of nowhere. The whole plane shakes, goes side to side and up and down. How many feet? They switch off the bright lights and only dim lights are on. Do I hear knocking down of the carts in the galley? The airhostess whispers, “Sir, Veg or Non Veg? And for the lady? What’s for you, mam?”  She hands over our packets. It’s too dim for my liking. I fumble with fork and spoon. The fork too finds it difficult to locate my mouth and pokes my lips and cheeks at times. I simply gulp whatever that has been served and wash it down with the orange juice. Juice? Why no liquor? Beer would have been okay. In fact, a shot of whiskey would have been perfect to calm my nerves. MH370 incident crosses my mind. But I keep it to myself. It subsides after some time. We land safely in Mumbai well past mid night, two hours behind schedule.

This concludes my travelogue. Thanks for joining in all the way from Mumbai to Singapore to Malaysia and back.

                                                                                           Vinay Trilokekar