Putrajaya Boat Tour

by Becky

If you read Buster's article last week, "The Sightseeing of Malaysia", you might have asked yourself, "What and where is that boat tour that Buster is on?".  Well, we took a 45 minute boat cruise around the Putrajaya Lake in the city of Putrajaya.

Putrajaya is a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, and very close to our home suburb of Cyberjaya - much closer than KL itself.  While Kuala Lumpur is the official capital of Malaysia, and contains the seat of the King, the Parliament, and the foreign embassies, most of the Federal Government administrative offices were moved to Putrajaya in 1999 due to overcrowding and congestion.  It is a planned city, conceived in the 1980's and constructed in the 1990's.

Over a third of the city is dedicated to green space, and it includes a man-made lake, Putrajaya Lake, designed for cooling and recreation.  It forms a kind of moat around the city center, so you can take a boat ride in a circle and see the beautiful buildings, lakeside parks, and fancy houses.

Here is the lovely Putra Mosque, near the boat dock:

And here we are, standing in front of the Perdana Putra, which houses the Prime Minister's office:

Holly and the kids on the boat:

And me:

Apparently Jaya in Sanskrit means "success" and "Putra" was the name of the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Next week I will tell you a little bit about government and history of Malaysia.  Wait for it!