My Selangor Story Day 1 : I Found Love At i-City

This is my official post for Part 1 of 6 blog series for My Selangor Story blogging competition organised by Tourism Selangor.

I need your votes for this contest. Please click HERE and give me lots of HEARTS.

The day finally arrived on 23 September, when all top 30 finalists from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia came together in Selangor for a "showdown". I would like to take the opportunity to thanks all readers who have voted for me in the first stage of the blogging competition. Because of your votes, I made it to the top 30! (Insert applause here!)

Since I am staying in Selangor, I don't have the opportunity to be flown to Selangor. But the ironic thing is that somehow I still have to make it to the old Subang Airport, the designated meeting place at 3pm on that day. LOL!

No flight for me. Just a RM1 Rapid Bus ride from my home, Sunway to Skypark Terminal in Subang.

It has been ages since I last came to this airport. I was surprise to see a beautiful building, far from what I remembered this place to be.

The interior is as beautiful as the exterior with many upgrades and new facilities. FYI, the Skypark Terminal is the home for FireFly, the official airlines for My Selangor Story.

My one woman welcome team from Firefly, Aishah! She was the first person I met at the airport.

I was wrong about Aishah being the one woman welcome team. She had some support from the pilots, cabin crews and En. Raja Sa’adi (Head of PR & Marketing) too!

While waiting for the rest of the participants to arrived we were treated to lovely afternoon tea served by the generous people at Kapitan Kopitiam. I love the kuihs downed with a cuppa of piping hot teh tarik!

The official photographer for the afternoon coxing everyone to place for the group shot.

Ten! Ten! Ten!.....

For the group photo session, we were given a very funky bright orange jersey each from FireFly!

From the airport, we were taken by coach to a local hotel in Shah Alam.

Some "gift" from Tourism Selangor....:)

After freshing up, we attended a briefing session by the organiser of the blogging contest and received a camera each to take pictures during our 6D 5N trip around Selangor, thanks to the kind people from Pentax Malaysia.

I got myself a Pentax Optio WS80. I will be posting my video taken with this baby in my next post! It is water proof! Woohoo! :)

Our first Selangor tour destination on the first day was...i-City.

It was my second time there in i-City. I was in i-City in December last year during the Larian Rakyat. Read about it HERE and HERE.

This is Mr. Eu, the CEO of i-City giving us some insights on the concept and development of this intergrated intelligent place.

According to him, i-City is a RM2.0 Billion commercial development on a 7.2 acre freehold site, masterplanned s an integratd ICT-based commnunity.

It comprises of corporate towers, shopping mall office suites, data centre hub, innovation centre, hotels and....a "brilliant" park.

Yes...Ourdoor steamboat dinner with the brilliantly lit i-City park as the background.The park is first of its kind; a showcase of LED technology complete with a giant LED screen - it's like an outdoor cinema!

Let's talk about the lights after dinner.... :)

Before....

After....Heheh! (Insert burp here!)

The scrumptious dinner was brought to us by Tasty Pot Steamboat Restaurant.

After dinner, we were given about an hour to explore the place. Armed with my tripod, I made a quick run around that area and shot as if I was having a machine gun! The night scenery is simply breathtaking!

I fell in love with this place. I literally found LOVE in i-City...:) (See photo below)

The above photo is not in anyway digitally altered. As I was looking around for nice composition, the shape of one of that particular tree above caught my eyes! And it is in red too! A red heart = LOVE. :)

i-City dubbed City of Digital Lights is lit up by millions of LED lights set against lush greens and beautiful themed sculptures. A perfect place to unwind and get enchanted by the lights.

One hour is not enough for me to explore this place. I will definitely be back to i-City.

Some quick runwitme's travel tips to i-City:

1. Bring your tripod!

2. Wear comfy shoes. You need to walk a lot!

3. Enjoy the super fast internet connection. They don't call it a Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) City for nothing!

Location: Shah Alam, Selangor

Contact: 603-5521 8800

Opening Hours: No closing time for the park. Light display is turned on from 7pm-4am.

Website: http://i-city.my

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/icity

The next place to visit was Uptown Shah Alam, a night shopping destination!

Our arrival was announced by the DJ near the stage. Visitors to Uptown Shah Alam can show off their vocal prowess on the karaoke stage.

I am plesantly suprised when I was presented with a Company Profile of Uptown Shah Alam. Wow! Even "pasar malam" or night bazaar has a company profile.

Later the CEO of Uptown Shah Alam, En. Aizul Hisham bin Mohd Dom took gave us a briefing on how he started the business. I was really inspired by HIS SELANGOR STORY!

He told us how his father used to peddle various small items at "funfair". Now, his business has grown with estimated RM1,000,000 turnover annually!

And he told his story while carrying his little daughter! What a doting father, eh? :)

The Shah Alam Uptown is currently home to 400 business lots, selling a vast array of mechandise. Public amenities such as prayer hall, toilets and parking lots are provided. Let's check out some of the items found at Uptown Shah Alam....

Stuff for women.

Stuff for men.

F&B stalls.

Stall that sells money to make money... :)

Stalls that sell furry animals.

Stalls that sell furry toys.

They even have a hairdressing saloon, with a well known spokeperson. :)

My...You can even buy a car here....!

Not only a car....If you have the money, you can buy a house at Uptown! They even thrown in a free scooter during the promotion period! Mighty impressive stuff you can buy here, eh?

Well, you have car and house. What about love? ;)

I am totally dazzled by the amount of merchadise sold at Uptown Shah Alam. You can get almost anything here, from as small as a coin to as big as a house!

We also found time to check out a little magic shop.

Watch the magic show here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laO7cLkG5zU

Some quick runwitme's travel tips to Uptown Shah Alam:

1. Bargain! Bargain! Bargain!

2. Enjoy the karaoke at the stage.

3. Be mindful of your personal belonging.

Location: Kompleks Muhibbah,Persiara Sultan,Sesyen 24, Shah Alam, Malaysia, 40300

Contact: 03-55104926

Opening Hours: 7:00pm to 3:00am (Mon-Sat); 7:00am to 3:00pm (Sun)

Website: http://www.uptownshahalam.com.my

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/uptownshahalam

To end my post for the first day, I leave you with some pictures I have taken at the i-City.

ENJOY!

I need your votes for this contest. Please click HERE and give me lots of HEARTS.