Putrajaya Challenge Park

A little bird told me.......

Putrajaya-Garden City and Intelligent City.! That's the catch phrase that epitomises what Putrajaya stands for!
Putrajaya was designed to incorporate 12parks, namely as follows:

1) Putra Perdana Park - 1st park that was opened
2) Botany Park
3) Taman Pertanian Warisan - Agricultural Heritage Park
4) Taman Wawasan - Vision Park
5) Taman Wetlands - Wetlands Park
6) Taman Rimba Alam - Forestry Park
7) Taman Selatan - South Park

And the latest park schedule for opening in Jun 2009 is the Putrajaya Challenge Park.
Located in the southern part at Precinct 5 and 30, it covers a total area of 46.73 ha in the South Park.

A Park meant for extreme sports, possibly the largest in South East Asia, it incorporates three key elements designed to give extreme thrill and excitement. Costing RM38mil, the extreme sports comprises a Wall Climbing Complex, Skate Park and a Bike Trail.

During the construction, every effort is being take to preserve the park's topography. Slope disturbance is kept to a minimum, with landscaping done along the natural contours so that sports enthusiasts can appreciate the flora and fauna while enjoying their sports.
Recreational sports like jogging and walking are also available.
Facilities within the park includes warm-up rooms, changing rooms, administrative block, cafeteria,kitcen area, a surau and parking bays.

WALL CLIMBING COMPLEX

At the height of 2100 sq m, it is a colourful trapezional climbing wall stretching 42m wide, 42m long and 20m high. Its divided into beginners' wall, competition wall, speed wall , advance wal and boulder, all to cater to both the novice and experienced climbers.
The competition wall is said to be the highest in the world. Climbing equipment will be available for rental.
A special kiddie wall is also contructed for kids to experience the thrill of wall climbing.

SKATE PARK
With a size of 2.600 sq metre, Skate Park is designed for skating activities with numerous bowl steps, railings and mini-vert ramps.


THE BIKE TRAIL


Consist of two components,

1) Free Ride Park
2) Fun Bike Park

Free Ride Park offers a 9.1 km trail for mounain biking with obstacles like the core trail loop, XCloop, downhill, downhill fun ride, free cross and slope style line.
It is built within the jungle setting with natural canopies for shade.

The Fun Bike Park is suitable for pump track biking, dirt jumps with north shore element and slope-style jumps.
The Ridgeline Park or natural metropolitan park is built within the Challenge Park to offer basic facilities such as look out tower, gazebo, platforms and foottrails.

Ref: The star Metro Mar 17 2009

PICC- Jewel in the making !

A little bird told me.....

Further to my previous article on the PICC, here's some additional useful information . Starting with the halls:

GRAND HEADS OF STATE HALL
Accomodating 59 heads of states and 121 advisers with rooms for bodyguards, note-taking and interpreters, this hall certainly exudes power and influence within its walls.

PERDANA HALL
With songket being its motive, functions like banquets, cocktail parties and themed events are held here. The hall comes with a five star kitchen that caters a variety of palate enhancing cuisine.

PLENARY HALL
The largest hall at PICC, it can accomodate 2,000 people. It comes with royal boxes, viewing galleries and interpreter rooms. Its mengkuang design, excellent accoustics and natural lighting makes conferencing here extra special.

UNITY HALL
Made up of 2 halls that are positioned by operatable walls. A little smaller than the Plenary hall, these 2 halls can serve as venues for more intimated banquets, seminars or exhibitions.

Individual rooms for smaller meetings are also available , all designed to ensure comfortable interaction.
A lounge on the ground floor is also available with clustered seating and serving bar providing a welcoming resting area. There, visitors can keep an eye on proceedings through the TV screens in real time.

TWO ENTRANCES
are available to allow event managers to organise delegate arrivals and departures. There is also a helipad nearby for convenience and emergencies.

Communication and interaction is also made effortless with PICC'S cutting-edge information and communications technology facilities., like information kiosks and wireless LAN, wireless simultaneous interpretation system, provision for live television broadcast and coverage, holographic rear projection systems, facilities, events and maintenance management system, video-conferencing system, video and bill-board messaging system and plasma display/LDC.

Royal Retreat at Putrajaya-- Istana Melawati

A little bird told me ....

Perched atop a hill on the north-western side of Putrajaya, this is the royal retreat for His Majesty The Yang Di Pertuan Agong and his family, the venue for meetings with other Rulers as well as the venue for certain official and private functions hosted by the King.

The palace is oriented south-west towards the general direction of the Putra Bridge where you get a good scenic view of the Putrajaya Lake, The Seri Perdana Brideg, Masjid Putra and the Mercu Tanda.

Modelled after ancient Malay palaces, Istana Melawati is pretty similar in design to the Istana Kenangan in Kuala Kangsar,Perak. Cruising along the driveway leading to the palace, one is greeted with streetlights featuring birdcage designs.

Befitting the status of a Royal Palace, the roof forms are arranged on tiered levels- symbolizing the prominent status of the buildings. Open-sided verandahs are also featured prominently throughout the Istana, acting as a very important interface between nature and the built environment in vernacular tropical architecture. The verandahs enable the enjoyment of scented flowers and herbs which are used extensively in the Royal Pleasure Gardens "Taman Indera" within the Palace grounds.

A closer look at some of the decorations within the palace

WITHIN THE PALACE

THE INTERIOR REFLECTS THE SPLENDOUR OF THE EXTERIOR

Located within , there is a lounge that overlooks a ceremonial courtyard flanked by traditioal wooden gazebos built over water. A little distance from the lounge is found a replica of a balai nobat made entirely from cengal wood by master craftsmen from Terengganu.


The Royal Wing houses the private quarters of the King and Queen as well as VIP suites. The Main Wing is where all ceremonial and official functions are held.

Bilik Singgahsana is where all official investiture ceremonies are conducted.

The Rulers' Conference Hall is where rulers of each state converge annually to discuss matters of national importance. Chairs bearing the royal crest of the individual states are assigned , while smaller chairs are reserved for each Mentri Besar.

The Main Banquet Hall seats 250 guests, while a smaller hall is reserved for the royal family to dine in privacy.

Covering a land area of 6.9 ha, Istana Melawati is complete with a swimming pool too.

PICC (Putrajaya International Convention Centre)

A little bird told me .......



Initially developed to host official funcitions, the first being the 10th OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference Summit) in Oct 2003, PICC covers a total of 135,000 sq metres of space spread over 9 levels from large halls for conventions to smaller rooms for meetings.
Its motto "Where Great Minds Meet", PICC prides itself as the premier venue for domestic and international MICE (Meetigs, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) events. PICC assets includes it size, plush setting and state-of-the-art facilities- all designed to ensure conducive interaction and optimum comfort to the delegates.
These extend from the grand 3,000 capacity Plenary Hall and 3,000 dining capacity Perdana Halls to its plush 180 seater-Heads of State Hal, luxurious suites, the VVIP lounge, discussion halls, two restaurants (Asian/Western cuisine) and meeting rooms for as few as 3 people.

With its vantage spot atop Puncak Selatan, PICC's 20.6ha site has picturesque surroundings that has also played host to many outdoor functions, from banquets to evening cocktails parties and product demonstrations. One of its most populous event is the recently concluded Malaysian International Fireworks Competition last August. What with 1,200 free parking bays available, PICC is certainly a good hot spot for MICE events in Putrajaya.

To view further pictures on PICC, please visit my other blog at www.dnatourchannel.blogspot.com

for further information go to www.picc.gov.my

ref: NST THE Review- May 16 2008
PICC HAS 1,200 free parking bays!

Cyberjaya- More Than Just a High Tech City

A little bird told me ........

Cyberjaya- known for its niche focus in technology and ICT related activities,is Malaysia's first intelligent city. Besides the above, what else does Cyberjaya offers?
Cyberjaya offers a balanced mix of residential and commercial development.
Logistics wise, Cyberjaya has an integratged transportation system. Do you know Cyberjaya utilises the world's first Dedicated Transportation System where Global Positioning System (GPS)is used to co-ordinate a fleet of buses that operates 24/7, linking Cbyberjaya to the Klang valley, Seremban and Banting.

Within city limits, there is the Cyberview-managed free shuttle service that runs on two routes at 15-minute intervals from 7am to midnight, passing all buildings in the city.

On the business side, there are 400 multinational and home-grown companies making Cyberjaya their base of operations. They include BMW, DELL, SHELL, DHL, HSBC, MICROSOFT AND ERICSSON. Workers can use any of the free parking bays in the city, then hop on the free shuttle bus.

Apart from the comprehensive and well conceived business structure, Cyberjaya itself offers plenty of residential areas and recreational facilities.


ref: NST - The Review May16 2008