OUR TREASURES: Genting Highlands

There is only one word to describe Genting -- CRAZY! It is so crazy that I keep coming back at least every month or two. It is the only place in Malaysia where you can gamble "legally", bring the kids to it's indoor and outdoor awesome theme parks, shop till you drop, clown around in the snow, be like a child for a day or two, show-off your new Hilfiger windbreaker or your fake mink coat, meet fellow gamblers, meet beautiful people, rich people, new-moneyed people and most of all -- those damn tourists!

I've been coming here for like 20 million times but I'm gonna pretend it's my first time here for the benefit of my readers who would want to try and come over to this City of Entertainment up above the clouds.

From the foot of the mountain, you have to take the gondola or cable car. It's called the Genting Skyway. Click here for the price and scheds. The 30 minute scenic ride above the rainforest is breathtaking! Imagine yourself going up to the sky without any destination and all of a sudden...the clouds open and you'll see this gigantic building on top of the mountain. This is my favourite part when coming to Genting.

Genting has 3 five-star hotels, 1 four-star and 2 three-star eye-sore hotels like this one you see on the pic. The First World Hotel stands out like a sore thumb in a relatively "classy" place like Genting. Who thought of the color scheme, anyway? Can't make up their mind so they just splattered all the colors of the rainbow? Huh? If you call that beautiful...my name is Mickey Mouse. There. Take that!


This is the Highlands Hotel, where I'm staying. The first week of June is peak season so I paid 495 Ringgit ($165/5,000Baht) a night. Regular rate is 355 Ringgit and if you're a cheapskate and wanna visit off-peak season, the rate is 305 Ringgit a night. The other 5 star hotel (Genting Hotel which is a little older) charges like 10-15% lower. Don't ask me about the 3 star hotel rates please. I have self respect.

The Casinos are open 24 hours (I wish you can see my eyes twinkle just by the thought of it. lol) and restaurants are simply the best. Since I don't eat pork, I tend to shy away from so many Chinese restaurants that serves the best oriental dishes. I mostly call room service or go down at the theme park and stuff my face with KFC, Burger King or McDonalds.

The Indoor Theme Park is to die for! They got gigantic replicas of the Tour Eiffel, a skyrocket, an Oscar to name a few. Oh! Oh! And when you're here, don't forget SnowWorld! Just looking at those kids having fun is enough for me to say -- "I have lived." (fucken overacting!) Ha! Take that!



The Outdoor Theme Park is outside, of course. If you fancy having fun in the afternoon FOG, then go ahead. The rides here are more daring. And they got more rides than indoors. It's also a good chance to display your new windbreaker or your new Nautica jacket! It can get really freezy up here. And if you fancy a thrill ride on your fake mink coat, well...up to you, auntie.


Genting is accessible by land and air. When I say "air", it's the English AIR. The Malay term for "air" means "water", ok?-- Anyways, you can hire a helicopter (oooh-la-la, dream on dude!) to come here OR if you're the bus-riding-kind, you can click here for the "how to".

And for the more adventurous type and would like to drive your own car and puke your way up to the overly zigzag road, here's the map. Genting is 45 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur.

You should come here. So many things to see and do!

Ok guys, this is it for now. I'll post more about Genting later. I'm just taking a break from my 48-hour casino marathon with my new friends. Catch ya later!

****

--Pisanu