Early Christmas Vacation at Genting Highlands

It has been three years in a row that I celebrated Christmas at Genting Highlands.

Before Year 2006, the last time I went to Genting Highlands was when I was a kid. Of course, a lot of things had changed ever since though some things never did… like the Antique Car ride, to name one. πŸ™‚

Two years back, I spent more time indoors. If you were there then you would remember that it was much colder up in Genting at that time (13-15 degree Celcius). The year before, I attended the Life Changing Party at Awana Genting Resort thus I spent a brief moment up in Genting Highlands during the wee hours with my friends. Temperature was warm though.

And this year? I revisited Genting Highlands for the third time and I came with my mom. Ashley didn’t join this time because she preferred to stay at home. We were in the outdoors more often this time around and great… the weather was misty and cooler than the year before! πŸ™‚

22nd December: Checking in First World Hotel

Although Mom and I arrived at 1:30 PM, we waited for 3 and a half hours before we could finally check into the hotel. (read: PEAK season)

The crowd was huge and we were annoyed and disturbed by slow moving families, queue jumpers, you name it. I really should be taking full advantage of my flexible schedule and pick a non-peak season for a vacation next time. πŸ™‚

23rd December: Chin Swee Temple

We missed the free shuttle bus service by a split second, so Mom and I hired a cab driver to take us to the Chin Swee Temple, 15 minutes down the road.

At Chin Swee Temple

My Mom said it reminded her a lot of her trip to Beijing, China – the temple, the scenery… more like ‘mini China’.

Mom at the Wishing Well

The wind was strong that standing still was difficult, really!

Journey to Enlightenment

Son Wu Kong

Tortoise Pond

Outdoor Theme Park

I had always wanted to go into the Outdoor Theme Park for the last 2 years but I kept coming at a wrong time! But not this round. πŸ˜‰ I bought us an ‘all park’ access for a whole day.

Outdoor Theme Park Entrance

I also missed riding the Antique Car – can’t believe it is still around even after more than a decade! πŸ˜€

Antique Car Ride

London Bus

With Santa’s Gang

Live Performance

Posing with a non-venomous snake

The Arcade

I probably would never get tired of the arcade. πŸ™‚ But if you’re an arcade fan like me, there are a couple of things I discovered that you might want to be aware of:

1. NEVER, EVER PLAY AT FUNTASY WORLD!
This is the arcade place near the K-Box, and just a level above “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!” There’s a good reason why this place doesn’t receive as many visitors as Vision City even though it’s situated in a busy location. I wanted to play “Ghost Squad” and all the 3 machines I tried were all spoilt! The first machine had a problem with the gun’s aiming (just go iron-sights and you’ll know). The gun on the second machine had the Action Button pulled out (how the heck was I going to save hostages and defuse bombs without it?) and the third machine had no sound. RM9.00 down the drain. πŸ™

2. HOUSE OF THE DEAD III
The shotgun is often spoiled – probably due to rough handling by the players. Also, it’s EASIER for YOU to die in this game. Unless you’re truly exceptionally skilled, this game works exactly like a casino: it’s designed for you to lose. I’ve seen skilled players get killed too easily in this game, even in the early round (read: Chapter 0).

Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

While I was prohibited from taking photos inside the premise this time (no idea why, I pulled that off just fine two years ago) – here’s a video you should see. Believe it.

More Photos on FaceBook

Click here to see more photos from my FaceBook photo album.

On a side note, I realized that I have been wearing the same long sleeve shirt for the past 6 years. I really need to get new clothes…

6 thoughts on “Early Christmas Vacation at Genting Highlands

  1. Hey Edmund,

    Awesome photos. Seems like you had a wonderful time there. “Something” tells me I may be going to check it out next month. πŸ™‚

    P.S. Merry Christmas!

    Ladan

  2. Aurelius, yeah am gonna book a flight to Sydney real soon. Planning for February trip. πŸ™‚ Show me around yeah?

    Dylan, exactly! I was there in 2006, took pics like mad. Oh well, LOL

    Semmy, haha you noticed. πŸ™‚ Been wearing that U2 shirt since I was 16 (i.e. 8 years and counting)

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