Miri City Fan Beckons!

When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just strolling in a park? Do you know that spending time in a nice park correlates with our overall well-being?

In Miri, you have no excuses for not spending some time in a park. You are spoilt for choices. You can visit Taman Selera today and Taman Awam tomorrow. Or you may prefer Bulatan Park or City Fan (Taman Kipas Miri).

I spent about two hours in Miri City Fan yesterday morning. The award-winning 26-acre park, located right in the heart of the city, is unique for its aesthetic and scenic features as well as facilities for sports, education and cultural activities. Spread out in the shape of a fan, the park features a civic promenade, individually themed gardens and the Dewan Suarah. In its vicinity, you can find the Miri public swimming pool, the Miri Indoor Stadium, Pustaka Miri, Unity Tower and Masjid At-Taqwa Mosque.

There are ample parking spaces at Dewan Suarah and that was where I parked my car before embarking on my stroll around the park. It is, in my opinion, the best place to start exploring the park.

Dewan Suarah Miri or Miri Civic Centre is an unique building with an oil platform design alluding to Miri’s status as the hub of Sarawak’s oil industry. The Miri Public Library is housed inside this building.

From Dewan Suarah, I made my way to the Civic Promenade which is flanked with walls that feature murals depicting the City Vision, the diverse culture and economic activities of Sarawak. At the end of the Civic Promenade is the musical fountain but I am not sure whether it is still functional or not.

The Garden of Vision is the heart of the Miri City Fan with a grand amphitheatre with 4 pavilions that symbolize social progress and harmony of the city. The amphitheatre is supposedly the largest in Malaysia. It doubles as a stage for outdoor performances with a musical fountain as an attractive backdrop.

The main attractions are of course the gardens – Health Garden, Chinese Garden, Formal Garden, Islamic Garden and Botanical Ethnic Garden.

The Health Garden is where you will find some exercising equipment and a reflexology path to walk on amidst the beautiful lush greenery.

 

The Chinese Garden features a Chinese-style gateway, a scenic lake and beautiful small bridges. Two sea horse statues stand in the midst of the lake.

The Formal Garden features a water fountain in the middle of a formal patterned garden with well-maintained hedges and geometric paving patterns.

The Islamic Garden incorporates Islamic architectural domes, arches and Islamic symbols. Opposite the garden on the other side of the road is the Masjid At-Taqwa.

The Botanical Ethnic Garden features symbolic elements, a herb garden with traditional sculptures of the various ethnic groups of Sarawak.

The Botanical Ethnic Garden sandwiched between the Miri Public Swimming Pool and the magnificent Pustaka Miri, a horseshoe-shaped sandstone building with light green walling. Designed as a tranquil oasis, it is the symbolic apex of information technology in the Miri Resort City.

Sitting in the middle of the roundabout near Pustaka Miri is the Unity Tower.

The strategic location of Miri City Fan with ample parking spaces makes it an ideal place for an early morning or evening stroll, jogging or just pure relaxation. And when you are tired, just have a rest on one of the many benches that dot the park. There are also playgrounds so you can bring along your whole family.

As I strolled around the park, I stopped from time to time to take photos of flowers and some plants. There was  also a breadfruit tree with quite a lot of fruits on it. I saw quite a number of fruits on the ground. It is rather surprising that nobody took them .

 

Interestingly, I again saw a cat in Miri City Fan yesterday. On Tuesday, when I visited Taman Awam, I saw a cat at the Airport Road Outcrop area.  It seems that Miri cats also like visiting parks, haha!