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How was your Independence Day countdown last night? My friends and I drove all the way to Putrajaya because we wanted to watch the 1st Malaysia International Fireworks Competition which is being held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), Putrajaya. We were early because we were told the traffic may come to a standstill at close to 10pm because hordes of cars are rushing to get into Putrajaya to get a closer look at the fireworks.

We were reached Putrajaya at about 9:15pm and we saw a lot of cars had already parked alongside the bridge overlooking the magnificent Putrajaya lake. This must be the best venue to witness the fireworks we told ourselves and thus we made a stop and squeezed in between two parked cars.

Okay, timing was just right. We just had to wait for about half an hour. It wouldn’t be too difficult, time would fly fast if we kept ourselves busy by snapping some pictures of the lake, the mosque, the people waiting there, etc.

Finally, the much awaited moment came! It was 10pm sharp… time for the Indian team to start their fireworks display!… We waited anxiously for the magical moment to start anytime soon. 5 minutes had passed, no there’s no fireworks. 10 minutes, 15 minutes… 30 minutes, still not a single sign of fireworks!

Traffic continued to pour in like this was a goldmine with a free buffet dinner or something like that. Vehicles started to triple park on the bridge until there was very little space left for traffic on the right-most lane. Finally those who parked on the third line got into trouble when a bus tried to go through… the drivers were forced to nudge millimeters by millimeters closer to the 2nd row cars in order to make room for the bus to pass through.

After much efforts making room for the bus, the bus finally could move without scratching those expensive cars though it still moved very carefully. Inch by inch. Kudos to those who volunteered to guide the bus through.

By now, it was already 11pm. None of us seemed to want to leave anytime soon before witnessing the fireworks display. We believed that tonight was special because it’s Independence Day eve. So the organizers must have rescheduled to start the fireworks at midnight in conjunction with the Merdeka Day celebration!

I did nothing except praying that time quickly fly… faster faster. Haha… of course I did take some random photos too.

Finally, at the stroke of midnight, the dark skyline was broken by the bright fireworks followed by deafening sound effects.

I am sure you don’t believe what I have just said. Yes, the fireworks were not bright because it was way too far away. We were on the wrong side of the town, the fireworks seemed so far and small. Sad indeed, after waiting for 2.5 hours this was what we got?! Anyway, people still cheered and clapped. Maybe to make ourselves better. Haha…

I took tonnes of photos of the fireworks and the above two are the best ones. Under these extreme conditions (dark, far, striking colorful fireworks, etc), I had to make use of the bridge fixtures to take night mode shots. My hands were not so steady for night mode shots after waiting for so long. Not only legs were tired, hands too! Haha…

The fireworks display lasted for about 25 minutes. By the time we reached home, it was already 2:30am… many thanks to the hordes of vehicles heading out towards KL at the same time. Waited 2.5 hours for a below par 25 minutes show! Below par because we were too far away! If you bought the RM38.50 ticket that could bring a whole lot different experience.

To conclude our story today, please enjoy the following fireworks video.

Before I forgot, I think it would be better if the organizer had announced the change of schedule so that we didn’t need to wait uninformed like that. Disappointed, but then again who asked us not to buy the ticket? Perhaps, ticket buyers were informed about the change of time?!

Tagged: putrajaya, malaysia, fireworks

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