Genting

My hubby and I went to Genting Highlands from 27/09/07 to 29/09/07. Actually we had wanted to go in August but plan was cancelled because I had to attend a symposium in KL then.

I had been to Genting a few times. Genting is pronounced as 'ger -en-ting' and not 'gent-ting' as some of us would pronouce it :)

The coach journey took 6.5 hours; in between there was a 30 minutes stop at 'Yong Peng' for food and toilet break. The coach was pretty comfortable, the seats were big. However, I would not consider the leg space as spacious, especially if the person sitting in front lower their seat to a lying position.

By the way, we booked our package from Five Star Tours. We paid $82 each for the 2 nights accomodation, 2-way coach and 1 breakfast at the Resort Hotel or Hotel First World.

We had mee rebus and mee soto at 'Yong Peng'. Each plate of mee cost RM$5. I thought it was quite steep considering the place was old and the standard of the food was nowhere comparable to any foodcourts. The toilets, not to mention, were horrible!! Do refrain from going to the toilets if you could help it! I didn't on the way there; but had to on the return journey back to Singapore. A tip: To deal with such situation, I would use medicated oil to rub on my nose....Even then, I could still smell the stench...so you can imagine how H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E it was.

We stayed at the Hotel First World. We had to wait for 40 minutes before we could get our room. That was a pretty long wait; what with after a long coach ride. But I guess we should not expect alot since it was the cheapest hotel there.

This time we had the deluxe room. The last time we went we stayed at the standard room where there was nothing except the TV, bathroom, bed and hangers for clothes. The deluxe room had additional of hot pot, free 3-in-1 coffee mix, in-room safe deposit and a single bed plus a queen size bed.

We had early dinner (brunch=breakfast plus lunch; then what is lunch plus dinner huh??)..at the 'Kopi-Tiam' at the 3rd level of First World Plaza. I had Penang Assam Laksa...yummy..I had been craving for that since I returned from KL can!! It cost RM$8.50, quite reasonable yah..considering Genting is a touristy place.

After that we shopped around for awhile; I bought a tee from Soda (Cost: RM$22) and a pair of earring from Voir (RM$22.90) at the First World Plaza. Then....it was jackpot time! I am beginning to believe that I do not have 衡财。No luck at all, I lost about RM$40 if I did not remember wrongly.

The temperature was really chilly at night! I swear!! I was telling my hubby to off the aircon when he told me there was no aircon!! There was only a fan and it was switched off!! He had only opened the window a little for ventilation! Oh my!! My toes nearly freezed and dropped off even though I had it hidden under the blacket...not to mention that I was in my usual travel 'air-space' suit and we closed the window eventually. Haha! People who travelled with me before would know what is my 'air-space' suit :P

In fact, I later found out that the hotel lobbies, resturants, casinos, shops etc were not air-conditioned at all, it was all 'natural' air!! WOW!! Ok ok..I know I am very mountain tortise and alot of colder countries are also like that lah...

Woke up at 10am on the 2nd day! Tired can! We had breakfast at one of the restuarants at the ground level of First World Plaza. I had Penang Assam Laksa again! So yummy can!! (Cost: RM$8.50). No Penang Assam Laksa is as yummy as these authenthic ones in Malaysia!! The closest one that I could get in Singapore was at a small foodstall outside Parkway Parade (along the stretch of coffeeshop at the old Marine Parade Library and underpass)..and that was more than a decade ago..the stall had since ended business :(

My hubby had chicken rice and teh tarik. Cost: RM$12.50 and RM$3 respectively. Expensive right?!

In fact all the drinks at the stalls were very expensive - at RM$3 to RM$3.50! Hehe..but I found out that the vending machines were selling it at a much cheaper price!! Only RM$2!! Those who are planning to travel to Genting got to thank me for giving such good tips man!! Wa haha!!

After breakfast we decided to take a walk outside to enjoy the fresh air and cool breeze. Yes it was COLD! 18'C! I still felt cold although I wore a tube, a long sleeve top on top of the tube and a jacket on top of the long sleeve top and tube, jeans and covered-toes shoe :).. I wondered how I could survive in colder countries...

We saw the cable car during our walk and decided that we should go for it for the sake of experience and so that we can go below of Genting for some shopping. Before that, we went to shop around at other resorts. I bought a pair of crystal earrings at Bonita at I-forgot-which-Resort (Cost: RM$39.90). We then went to play jackpot and that was a bad decision. I lost like another RM$80!

Then it was cable car time!! The cable car was ahem...quite scary in the beginning. It was steep can! And there was no ground/sea at the bottom! Only greens and branches and greens and branches and more greens and more branches and those greens and branches were the tops of trees and bushes!! NO GROUNDS or SEA! Please see the photos and it would be self-explainatory lor! But it was not so scary after awhile lah! Got used to it already ma...haha..The cost: RM$10 both ways! Very cheap!

There was not much shopping below la...only a very small 'shopping centre'. There was a small 'animal kingdom' there. My hubby went in. I didn't want to because it smelt like those smelly toilets at 'Yong Peng'. Plus the lady at the sale counter was super irritating. Cost: RM$12.50. I was quite happy staring at the talking bird that they displayed outside. Yes I am not joking, the bird CAN TALK. But all of a sudden I forgot the things that it said.....

We had to queue for the cable car on the return trip up to Genting. We didn't feel like having dinner because we had some snacks earlier. I bought my durian cake then we went back to the room for a short rest. After that we went to redemn my Baskin Robins ice-cream! :) We redemned it using points from the Genting card. The card enabled you to accumulate World Points (WP) and Genting Points (GP). I think you earn WP when you shop and eat; and GP when you gamble at the casino. You can then redemn WP for shopping and food; and redemn GP for room bookings and things like shows and movies. Something like that...my hubby was in-charge of this so I can't be bothered with all that stuff...haha

After that we went to the casino again! This time luck came rolling in!! I managed to recoup my loses from just 1 game!! And I think I won some money too! Unfortunately I think I lost almost the amount that I won the next day :(
That's why I said I don't have any 衡财！！Overall I either won RM$17 or lost something like RM$53..I don't know because I think I miscalculated something along the way...haha

Oh forgot to mention that we had some tung shui..hot longan with sea coconut..very nice!! It was at one of those stalls at the ground level of First World Plaza again. Cost: RM$8 with tax and service charge.

3rd day: we chose to have breakfast at the Resort Hotel. I thought the breakfast at the Resort Hotel looked more posh than the one at Hotel First World :P. Well, the food was edible lah...I found the bee hoon, roti-chani, samosa, curry chicken (but the chicken wing that I aimed kena taken by an auntie before me :(...) and sambal ikan-bilis quite nice...

We didn't have much time left after breakfast. We went up to the room and rested for awhile then checked-out at 11.30am. We left our bags at the concierge then went shopping. I bought a pair of black heels at Vincci. Cost: RM$39 after 20% discount. Very cheap!!!!

We then went to the casino...no need to say la..I lost money..refer to above paragraph..

Our return coach was at 2.30pm. This time we had 2 stops. One was soon after we reached the 'basement' of Genting, at some old shops selling local food products. Another time was at where else but 'Yong Peng' again..The coach took us to Lavander MRT station..reached at 9.3opm...

Actually the prices for local food products were cheaper at Genting as compared to the old stall that the coach driver took us or at 'Yong Peng'. Of course the cheapest would be at the shopping centre which we went to on the 2nd day by cable car. I would recommend to buy the local food products at Genting itself to save trouble :)

End of my story...have no idea how come I can blah and blah so much....Photos to come later....:)