Genting Theme Park Hotel Garden

There is a small park just in front of the first hotel built at Genting, Theme Park Hotel which probably did not received it much deserved attention from visitors to Genting resort.

I believe this small park was established around the same time as the hotel. I reckon it offers the best view while walking outside the Genting complex.

I can see Kuala Lumpur city on a fine day with the iconic KL Twin Towers and KL Tower clearly visible from this point.

The latest attraction around here, Chin Swee Caves Temple as seen from the vantage point in the garden.

The maze path within the garden.

It's a perfect way to get some sun shine after a long day inside the Genting complex while breathing the cool fresh air at the hilltop.

Patio @ Genting

There are only few places in Genting that offer alcohol to drinkers. For me, Patio (open 5pm onward) which is located in First World Plaza is the best place to drink while at the hilltop resort.

Patio offers 14 types of ice cold beers from the tap namely, Erdinger, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Carlsberg, Kronenbourg, Franziskaner, Leffe, Strongbow, Kilkenny, Tiger, Anchor, Heineken, Guinness and Paulaner. That is enough to attract me to this place which is located alongside the little canal within the complex.

Since German Wheat Beer is my favourite beer nowadays, I ordered a pint of Paulaner (RM 37) and Erdinger (RM29). The price is a bit more expensive compare to the pubs in the city but the price is still quite acceptable to me, considering this is probably the highest place to drink beers in Malaysia.

Live football matches will usually be telecast on the large screen here. They do not serve any snack or food here. Purely beers, liquor and some wine only. There is free flow of tit bits with no apparent extra charge.

Live band also performs every night and each members of the group is conversant in almost every languages. What a nice place to chill out after a long day at Genting Resort.

Resort World Genting

Genting Highlands Resort sits on the 1,800m Gunung Ulu Kali, some 50km from Kuala Lumpur. The idea of creating this hilltop retreat was first mooted by the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong in 1964 for Malaysian seeking a cool mountain holiday resort. It was finally operational in 1971 after much effort.

Navigating around Genting could be easy or confusing depending on how fast you can get your bearing around the place. There are no streets of any kind. Basically the entire complex is connected with link ways, underground tunnels and escalators with comprehensive signage to the intended destination.

The main attraction here is the casinos which never sleep and is the only legal place to gamble in Malaysia.

The outdoor theme park on the other hand is the star attraction to the children as well as for the teenagers. It is usually crowded during school holiday.

Arcades centre is also available with the latest video games to keep the children occupied.

Visitor here also have an opportunity to shop in Malaysia's highest shopping mall. The price of the goods here are comparable to those found at the city.

The First World Plaza is a mix of indoor theme park and shopping mall with replicas of random landmarks from around the world, all covered in a giant metal roof that makes the entire place a bit dark and dingy.

Visitor here also have the opportunity to experience the gondola ride, as can be found in Venice, Italy.

In fact, there are a lot of activities to engage while in First World Plaza and one can even experience snow as if in the winter season.

Genting is an ideal place to seek entertainment in the midst of cool surrounding. Although the place has a lot to offer, the food here is generally overpriced and mediocre.

Getting to Resort World Genting

Genting Highland is about 51km from Kuala Lumpur and getting there is not much of a problem with the wide range of public transport available.

The Genting Management provides Genting Express Bus services at several strategic locations at Puduraya, 1 Utama, KL Sentral, Putra LRT Station and Kajang at hourly intervals.

I took the bus from KL Sentral and it costs RM 9.30 one way which include the cable car ride. The fare definitely had increased as it used to cost RM 6.30 about 6 years ago in my last trip there. The ticket can be purchased at level 2 of KL Sentral Station, next to the new Air Asia sales counter.

The bus ride is fairy comfortable and depart on schedule. The bus will stops at Genting Skyway Lower Station. For those who plan to go as far as Genting Skyway station, the bus fare is RM 4.30.

The journey from KL Sentral to Genting Skyway Station is about 1 hour. At peak season, there will be a long queue at the cable car station. For those who did not purchase the cable car ticket earlier, it can be bought here at RM 5.

For those who are in hurry to get to the peak and do not want to wait too long for the cable car, taxis are readily available and the fare is about RM 10. During peak season, the taxi drivers will usually jack up the price to RM 15.

To return to the respective stations from Genting Skyway Station, take the elevator to B4 and purchase the ticket there. The departure time is irregular and will usually depart when the bus is filled up.

Genting cable car system is the world fastest and South East Asia longest, standing the distance of 3.4 km

It is a scenic ride to the peak with the lush greenery surrounding and the cool breeze.

The ride took approximately 20 minutes and the iconic Genting Hotel should be visible as the cable car about to reach its final destination.

Jungle Trekking at Awana Genting Highlands

Yesterday, my department organized a jungle trekking activity at Awana Genting Highlands. It has been a while now since I last visited Genting Highlands and its landscape had more changes now than my last visit here.

Registration in progress. We were given sandwich, water and banana for breakfast. It is always a good idea to have banana before a strenuous activity.

We were separated into 7 teams. Before we start our trekking, we were instructed with some stretching move.

I am in team 7 (a.k.a team green). The organiser had a competition on which team can complete the task in the shortest time and this team don't look like a team which are in the contention to win it.

Anyway, the start of the journey is not that tough as we were going down the hill. Balancing plays a crucial part here.

Along the track, there are many blood sucking creatures like leech (the local call it pacat)

To counter the blood sucking creatures, they spray aerosol to the feet and shoes. I doubt the effectiveness though.

This blood stain on the socks from the other contestant who has his feet bitten by the leech. Thank God I don't encounter any leech attack.

After walking for 30 minutes, we arrived at a stream to take a break and enjoy the fresh cool water.

There are a lot of logs we need to tackle in the forest.

Some of the trees here are really ancient from the size of them

The information board which indicates the animals that can be found in this forest. One of the team actually came across a wild boar!

After 1 hour, we took another break at a stream. This was where we recharge ourselves before making the final dash to the finishing line.

Its a vertical climb from here on and it was really tiring. My thigh muscles were really tested here.

Everyone was relieved when we reached the finishing line. My team made it in 1 hour and 53 minutes. My leg almost got crammed here (maybe because I sweat too much) and I was lucky to avoid it as we approached the finishing line.

Lunch pack provided by Awana Resort. Fried rice with fried chicken and comes with apple. It tasted pretty good on an empty stomach.

Lady Luck was smiling at my team as we were the runner up for the competition. (The winner finished at a remarkable 1 hour 39 minutes). There were 2 teams which detoured from the intended path and ended up arriving late. Their unfortunate event could have elevated us to the runner up spot as they are a fitter teams.

Before we left, I ventured around to take some photos of the surrounding. Genting is no longer cold as before and I can virtually walk around in a T-shirt.

Just another look at the prize won. I can see a mug, chocolate bars and mentos in it.