I took a leave in April 2015 to have a small reunion with my elementary school friends, there were 17 of us from different cities (Kediri, Surabaya, Semarang, Jakarta & Singapore) without children. Our destination was Malaysia, we went with the morning flight, so all of us arrived in KLIA2, Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 around lunch time. Our meeting point was food court at 2M level before departing to Genting using rental cars. After lunch we searched for local sim card to avoid roaming fee, most of my friend bought 22 MYR to get free internet for a week. I didn’t buy it, just waiting for the free wifi connection. The new klia2 is quite huge, which could accommodate >200 retail outlets, anyway we didn’t have much time to explore it, just went directly to the exit gate waiting for the rental car to pick us up.
On the way to Genting, we stopped at Shell fuel station to buy some drinks and snacks, also went to the restroom. Arriving in Genting (perched on the peak of Gunung Ulu Kali at 1,800 meters high) for another hour, the place was covered with thick clouds, we could not see any panoramic view, it's common to have a misty weather in this location. The hotel’s front door was very wide, many doors decorating with beautiful lighting to enter. My friend had reserved 8 rooms at First World hotel through internet. There was no long queue, unfortunately we still had to wait for a long time as the room was not ready. I’m quite surprised as it was almost 17:00 o’clock while the normal check out hotel is at 14:00. The lobby was very beautiful, with many beautiful statues, carving and lighting. When I asked about free wifi, they said that I must pay 10 MYR for an hour or 15 MYR for 24 hours. I prefer not to buy it as we’ve just arrived and we’ll check out the next day, and I didn’t feel that I really need it.
After getting the room which was not as good and wide as the lobby, we went for dinner and exploring First World area, it’s a pity that the outdoor theme park was under construction. First World Plaza is a colourful shopping complex with restaurants, entertainment and boutique outlets. Finally after shopping, we decided to visit the only legal land-based gambling casino in Malaysia. We’re not allowed to take picture inside the casino, even we could not bring shopping bag inside, so some of our friends had to go back to the rooms. After going around in the casino, my friend decided to play guessing “small/big card”, others only as supporters. Lucky she could win 500 MYR, so we celebrated it by having dessert, and save the remaining money for durian on the next day.
In the morning we could see a very beautiful scenery from the lift’s window, as if we’re staying on the cloud. We planned to ride cable car called Genting Skyway (3.38 km) as the fastest and longest gondola lift in South East Asia, we had to walk quite a long distance through different hotels such as 5 star Maxims hotel, to reach the station. Lucky it’s indoor and so many escalators to connect one building to another building, so it’s not hot and we didn’t feel it’s far. We passed by some other hotels, such as the The cable car could only load 6-8 persons depend on the weight, but they had many cabins. It’s fun as we could see the trees and paths far below us, we also could see the mountains covering by the clouds. The peak overlooked lush valleys of rainforest stretching towards KL. It’s windy on the first quarter, the weather was mild and nice, after that we felt hot, as there was no wind and the sun was shiny quite strong to our cabin.
We directly decided to have brunch in Shanghai 10 restaurant, a dim sum, noodle and desert eatery. I was very happy as I could get a quite fast free wifi from the restaurant. While waiting for the ordered food, I was busy checking and update my facebook, whatsapp and bbm. Funny things happened when I ordered flower shrimp, it looked big and beautiful in the picture's menu. I'm quite surprised when it came it's not as big as the picture, but it's beautiful. I took picture then busy again updating my picture, suddenly when I want to eat it, only empty plate left :-( I decided to order once more then.
As it's already around 12:00, we had to go back to the hotel for checkout, unless we would get penalty if we were late. The good thing was the check-out kiosk, that’s fast and efficient, you don’t need to queue, because there were many machines for you to drop your room’s card there. It would connect automatically to the receptionist and cleaning service, so they could clean the room for the next guest.
The next destination in Genting was Chin Swee, a beautiful Taoist temple, as it’s built in the most scenic site of Genting Highlands in 18 years. It’s located 4600 feet above sea level, so the weather was quite cold although the sun shone so strong. There were a statue of Qingshui, a Buddhist monk which was popular for his abilities to summon rain and drive away evil spirits. A beautiful red temple was in the middle of the hall where we could see the giant Buddha statue, waterfall and its iconic Pagoda tower. We took many pictures there, sometimes the sun shone so hard, until we could not see clearly to take picture, but suddenly the cloud came.
The temple was built by the founder of Genting (Lim Goh Tong) to venerate Buddhist figure Chin Swee. A construction foundation dug from solid bedrock, modern machinery was eschewed because of the steep terrain. Many beautiful objects for taking pictures with its bright color and blue sky. I love to stay there as the weather was nice and the scenery was amazing, unfortunately we had to go to Kuala Lumpur. Behind the statue is a natural rock in a man-made flowing stream. The rock gives the necessary support to the statue while the stream provides clear cool mineral water throughout the year. This water has been named ‘Dragon Mineral Water’ was said to have healed the sick.
If you like a mild weather, a breathtaking view and serene mountain environment, Genting Highland is a good destination for leisure with family too, as there was indoor theme park, shops and restaurants. It was fun to go together with my childhood friend while we could have the cheer and laughter together.
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