Monday, September 21, 2009

Putrajaya - the capital of the future...


when everyone needs a GPS system to save time and petrol, after factoring in the additional travelling cost in the first place.

“If anyone invites you to a wedding dinner in Putrajaya, tell him you cannot make it!” said a frustrated SP.

We were invited to Cheng's school ex-classmate's wedding dinner at Marriott Putrajaya. But because it fell on the same day as my sister's Golden Anniversary, SP had to go there instead, together with Cheng and another ex-classmate.

To make sure we know the route, we took a drive on the day we fetched Cheng from KLIA, using one of the suggested routes via Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong. But since we could not find the sign, 'IOI Resort' we continued until we reached a part of Shah Alam!

On Saturday, we took a drive again, using another route suggested, via KL-Seremban part of the North-South Expressway. Again, we took a wrong turn and ended up in Putrajaya itself. We saw the Tourist Information office and she asked the man for directions. He even gave her his mobile phone number just in case she got lost again. We found it eventually but since we got lost first, we were still uncertain if we could find our way if we were to start from the house again.

Sunday morning, Cheng and friend had to be at the hotel to join a group of 'girlfriends of the bride' to play out a planned obstacle before the groom could take the bride with him to his house. This involved drinking a blended mixture of sour, sweet, bitter and hot items.

Anyway, SP joined us to again familiarize the route to the hotel in Putrajaya, since she will be driving herself for the dinner. Again, even at the third attempt, we took a wrong turn and got into a village in Dengkil!

Just imagine, the number of people having to take a few trips before they can be sure of the right route to a well known hotel for the first time. The other problem seems to be the clash between 'aesthetics' and 'practicality' where the former involves minimal road signs (to avoid clutter) and U-turns. I described to a relative who is in transport business and she confirmed that they are really put off by the lack of U-turns because a wrong turn would involve having to travel a few kilometres to find the way again.

I have always complained about the lack of consideration for the general public when Putrajaya was first mooted. We will be paying for it each time we had to make a trip to the new grand capital which was created by a PM with a huge ego.



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