Flashback: Day & Night in Shah Alam



Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque

It was another day of work away from office, this time in Shah Alam. When I heard of the meeting venue from the client, I turned to my iPhone and googled the place. Alas, it is where the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque is, also known as the Blue Mosque. Shah Alam is the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia which is located about 25 kilometers west of Kuala Lumpur. It replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor in 1978 due to Kuala Lumpur's incorporation into a Federal Territory.

 



 Excited about the trip, I dragged a 'pinsan' ("hoax" cousin) to come along. We took the Air Asia flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur then a cab going to Selangor. It took us about 45 minutes to reach Shah Alam from the LCCT Airport. Compared to other cities in Malaysia, Shah Alam is rather a quite place. There are fewer malls, less traffic jam and I haven’t seen any single bar around. You seldom see people walking down the street at night unlike Kuala Lumpur that seems very busy even in the wee hours. In fact, Kuala Lumpur never sleeps.



Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam

When we arrived at the Grand BlueWave Hotel, we specifically requested for a room with the Blue Mosque view. Without a doubt, the room has a magnificent view of the blue dome. It is indeed one of the most stunning structures in Malaysia. But we didn't know the real price of getting the grand view until the night and early morning came. We were awakened several times due to the loud sounds of early Morning Prayer of the Muslims. "Allahu Akbar...allahu Akbar" and the sounds went on and on.





It was still a good experience, a different one. It felt like I was in the middle of "middle east" or somewhere else. At least I had a big breakfast and delicious pizza for lunch at the Semarak Café. After a short yet tiring event in Shah Alam, we headed to Kuala Lumpur for another workshop.



View from my hotel room