Shah Alam Lake Gardens

Shah Alam Lake Gardens

What a beautiful find. Just gotta explore the tiny bits of Selangor and you’d be surprised what gems are just lying around. This gigantic park around THREE lakes is old. Looks old. Feels old. But, very well maintained. Lawn is neat. Trees are trimmed. Some heritage trees have boards to explain what kind they are. The walkways are surprisingly wide and clean and the most wondrous thing, it cleverly connects the lakes, making it so easy for people to walk. 

Each lake has its own name if you read further online but that confuses me as their names changed overtime. So I stuck with the basic names stated on the map ~ East Lake, Middle Lake and West Lake.

The East Lake

We parked at Plaza Alam Sentral, an old shopping complex. I wasn’t comfortable parking by the side of the road with the ‘No Parking’ signs glaring at me, although it was a Sunday! At least my car was under a roof for a minimum fee. 

Here at the East Lake, the most prominent view is the famous Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque (phew, what a mouthful!). Also known as Shah Alam Blue Mosque. 

Selangor state mosque

Biggest mosque in Malaysia and 2nd biggest in South East Asia.

Its architecture is a combination of traditional Islamic, West Asian and Malay design features. 

It was certainly a WOW moment when I saw it by the lake!

Then I noticed this plaque. It states:

“The footprints clearly seen on the replica belong to his highness Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj. When he was crossing the lake aboard a replica of the panisi, he was accompanied by an entourage in 9 boats to symbolize the 9 districts in Selangor. The footprints represent the arrival of Sultan Salahuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Daeng Chelak or Raja Lumu in Kuala Selangor from Sulawesi in the early 18th century. It was held in conjunction with the official opening of the Sultan Alam Shah Museum on 2 September 1989.”

Back in history …

Raja Lumu or Sultan Sallehuddin Shah was the first sultan in Selangor. Son of famous Bugis warrior Daeng Celak. 

Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah was the 11th Agong in Malaysia. 

Our 16th and current Agong is Sultan Abdullah of Pahang. 

Shah Alam City Council building, 1988

(Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam)

Walking towards Middle lake

Middle lake

Fountain place

Middle lake is serene and pretty

Walking towards West Lake

Under the bridge

Tadaaaaa… West Lake 

This is the biggest lake among the three. More crowd here as there is a long stretch of playground here. More families and kids at this end. There were 2 people who sold drinks and snacks but there were no proper food stalls. However, there’s a huge restaurant at the end of this lake and you can easily walk across the road for fastfood. 

Taman Warisan Melayu

A very simple yet beautiful heritage garden

Pangkin congkak

Gasing replica

I learnt a new name and meaning. Took me awhile to crack it. I asked a couple of people there but I got “I don’t know” as my reply. Not sure where they were too lazy to explain to me or they really didn’t know! 

Anyways, the first thing I saw this structure, I thought… this is for elephants (gajah)? To do what?

So i broke the name down.

‘Pergola’ means outdoor structure.

‘Susur’ could mean the edge, track, bar, curb… depending on your sentence. 

So where does ‘gajah’ come in?

WRONG TECHNIQUE, JO!!!

Ok ok go find the whole name and read articles about it. Found it!

‘Pergola susur gajah’ simply means a covered walkway. 

Its unique name might be originated from an old village name Kampung Gajah in Perak where it existed since the 17th century. 

Then I remembered my high school had lots of Pergola susur gajah. Guess the gajahs must be us kids 😂🤣😂

There we were!!!

I was not sure what this was. A museum? A gallery? It looked abandoned. It might be under construction. No signage. 

Walk back to East Lake