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Is she having fun?
The world may never know! Imagine if you will, a place located high on a jungle mountain top that is part Las Vegas, part American shopping mall, and part low budget theme part. That would describe Genting Highlands resort in the highlands just north of Kuala Lumpur. It’s the popular vacation destination for lots of Malaysians with something for everybody gambling, shopping and rides for the kids. Exciting right? Well, sort of.
I didn’t go of my own accord, Jo signed the kids and me up for a trip along with her brother Chai, who is visiting from Ausie with his daughter, Kim. She wanted a few days alone with her mom. The package was only RM59 (something like $US 16) for the bus trip and the hotel room for one night. It seems it’s a popular junket for the gamblers. Remember, Malaysia is nominally a Muslim country, so 1/2 the population can’t gamble, but the Chinese and Indians make up for that in their love for gambling. Once you get to the mountain, much like Disney World, you are a captive audience, so things are a bit more expensive, but not too outrageously so.
We started out Monday morning July 3rd from Kuantan.
The highlands of west-central Malaysia
View from the cable car station on a clear day. We were told to be at the travel agents office by 7:00 to catch the bus to Genting. After managing to get the kids up and get there on time we had to wait until 8:30am before the bus actually showed up. It was the cushiest school bus I’d ever seen (not really). The school bus, yes, painted yellow, was more like an over the road (greyhound) bus and was okay comfort-wise. The trip took only 3 hours via the highway, but the bus had to lumber up the highland roadways to get to the cable car that was to take us the rest of the way up to the resort.
Upon getting to the cable car and seeing the 1 hour wait, the overeager gamblers and funsters in the group voted to skip the scenic cable car ride and continue by bus up to the top. They were eager to get to the gaming tables. The kids and I were more interested in the cable car ride, but were assured that we could take the cable car on the return trip the next day. Up we went by bus. The road was winding but featured great views over
Rollergirls
They just did the loops on this coaster and loved it. Can you tell? the forested valleys below.
There are several hotels of various ratings at the top and for $16 you can imagine we got the cheapest. No problem, we wouldn’t be in the rooms long, only to sleep. The problem was they hadn’t actually cleaned the rooms yet, so we checked in to slightly used rooms. Once depositing our luggage, we rang for the housekeepers to come and clean the room while we were out playing around. There were lots of rides both inside and out, but it’s no Disney world. We did manage to find some fun things to do and rides to keep our attention. The best part was that the outside temperature was around 70F (21C), a nice improvement from the perpetually hot and humid Malaysian weather you find at sea level. At around 5300 feet above sea level, we were in the clouds part of the time which gave the place a kind of Brigadoonish feel. We purchased “2 day all ride” tickets, which incidentally don’t cover all rides, only most. The signature rollercoaster ride and a few others are only for single ride purchased tickets.
Because it was a Monday and Tuesday, the place was
Malaysia joins the space race
I wasn't aware that Malaysia had their own space program. Who'd a thunk! not terribly crowded and we had very little wait time for the rides. Quite often the kids could just ride again or run around and re-enter the ride. There seemed to be quite a large number of middle eastern (what I felt were Saudi) families visiting the place, which you could identify by the Arabic they spoke or the fact that the women in their groups not only wore the head covering that many Malaysian Muslim women wear, but they also had their faces covered and they were wearing black. I found it quite a striking image to see these women covered completely from head to toe, many with gloves on, riding the theme park rides. I know the religion doesn’t preclude them from having fun, but it was odd seeing them on the rides. I can only imagine that they were smiling under their veils.
The mall which is complete with amusement park rides running through it, featured many high end store from overseas and several local ones too. The kids really enjoyed having their choice of American fast food outlets like McD, KFC, & Burger King. For breakfast the kids and I ate at Starbucks, which is
Entrance to Pirate Train
Believe it or not, the entry and the trams were far scarier than the actual ride itself. really only the 2nd time that I have ever been to one; the first being in Seattle some 8 years ago. You see, I don’t go for overpriced coffee and in Malaysia why pay 12 ringgit for a coffee when you can get a great cup of “kopi ping” (iced coffee) at the local “kopi tiam” (coffee shop) for 1.50 ringgit? Brand consciousness is just as big here in Malaysia as it is anywhere in the US.
After 2 days of riding rides we were ready to come home. We did have our favorite rides though. Mine was the one that takes you up some 15 stories above the park and drops you free-fall-like back to the bottom. It was great. Because none of the kids could go on with me, I went as a single rider and got to the front of the queue a lot faster. It was wicked! Viv and Kim liked the rollercoaster that did a barrel-roll. Poor Will was left out quite a bit as the park required some seriously outdated ideas of height requirements. He was even too short for the log-flume ride; that’s the old standby that anyone can go back home
In the midst of the excitement
Genting is a strange place, but I do have to admit it was fun for a few hours. at 6 Flags or splash mountain at WDW. We did manage to find some ride that he enjoyed though.
We were more than ready to leave by 4pm to head back to Kuantan by 7pm, but the gamblers and others voted on leaving at 7pm, so they could stay longer. We grudgingly agreed, thinking at least we would have the cable car ride. After waiting the extra hours for the rest of the group, we go to the cable cars and face another 45 minute wait. Of course, the group decided they would take the bus back down as they were ready to leave. I spoke up in my loudest Malay and said I was going to take the cable car down and they could wait for us. I don’t know how it went over, but they were there when we got down to the bus (which had been waiting since the original time of 4pm as no one had thought to inform them of the schedule change). I hate to be the obnoxious low context person in the crowd going against the good of the group and looking out for my own needs, but we were guaranteed a
Captain Will
I was only the navigator and official photographer. I did end up with a wet seat after this, which always nice to walk around the park with. cable car ride for our $16 and I wanted to take it.!!! Bloody Americans and their contracts!
We made it back safe and sound around 11:30pm, happy to be back in Kuantan but tired.
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Jen
non-member comment
Amusement park fun
You are getting old. Ted took the girls to six flags and Rachel had to ride everything, and Ted had to force himself to go on half the rides. I used Lilly as an excuse not to go at all. When did we become our parents? Hope you guys are having a blast, it sure sounds like it. Give everyone a big kiss from us. Jen