A day trip in Genting Highlands

An hour past midnight of the day after Tech·Ed SEA 2007 ended, my mom and eldest brother Jairus joined me and Julie on our trip in Kuala Lumpur. Because they just came from a long flight and a lengthy travel they slept after a few greetings to prepare for the next day's trip.

We woke up early next day to take a bus from KL Sentral Station going to Genting Highlands resort. Located above Titiwangsa Mountains, it is about an hour and a half away from Kuala Lumpur. It is fondly called as an entertainment resort in the sky. For a 26 RM per person which includes roundtrip bus fare, skyway transfer and outdoor theme park (or exchangeable to one meal stub in a restaurant), we boarded the Genting Express bus and off we go to the resort.


On the way to the resort, we drove by Batu Caves, another tourist spot though I didn't get to see much of it aside from the famous 272-steps and the golden statue of Murugan from afar.


Cable car. We were told that Genting Highlands is also accessible by Genting Skyway, Southeast Asia's longest cable car system stretching from Gohtong Jaya to Highlands Hotel in Genting.


This is the entrance near where we were dropped off by the bus. It is the entrance to First World Plaza.


In First World Plaza alone there are a lot of things to do, shopping, casino, theme park, entertainment activities, you name it! It is connected directly to First World Hotel.


A walk from First World Plaza to Genting outdoor theme park is quite lengthy and took around 10 minutes. The resort is so vast and it's easy to get tired and lost in the way.


So we reached the Genting outdoor theme park entrance. We showed our tickets and went inside the theme park.


First that we did was to ride the monorail which goes around the outdoor and indoor theme park. We passed by a lot of attractions:

Crazy Spacelab


Flying Coaster


Inside First World indoor theme park



Flying Dragon



Fist World Hotel


We got off the monorail right where we started. First attraction we went to was Cyclone. Only Julie and Jairus went to ride the coaster.


Theme Park Directory


We also passed by Space Shot but no one dared to try the ride.


We also went to the Dinosaurland but we thought it was too cheesy so we left immediately after.


Another queer attraction is the Double Deck Carousel.


Similar to Enchanted Kingdom's Flying Fiesta is Spinner, a flying swing but this is more of for adults.


Because we were more interested of what we saw in the indoor theme park, in less than 2 hours we left the outdoor theme park and headed to First World Plaza. On the way, we passed this long escalator which I thought was cool.


So we entered the First World indoor theme park. It is hard to describe the theme park because it is full of both familiar and peculiar things that were mixed and matched. For example there was this replica of an Oscars statue.


There was also a Statue of Liberty.


Another attraction in the area is the "gondola" ride that mimics the Venetian experience. Because it seems cooler that it is, we were deceived and gave it a try (for an additional fee).




Julie and I also went to SnowWorld. There was a separate fee for this and all visitors were provided thick wears that will make you feel warmer and dry inside the exhibit area. No cameras were allowed inside but to describe, it is a theme park by itself. Log cabin, sleigh ride, igloos and other winter stuffs will make you think as if you're part of a big Christmas card. There was also a rubber slide ride which was fun. As a free item to visitors, everyone were offered snowcones!


Before we headed back to Kuala Lumpur as the end of the day is getting nearer, we watched a bit of the cultural show in First World Plaza.


This picture was taken with Jairus and mom in front of First World Hotel which historically held the title of the largest hotel. Today with 6,118 rooms, it now ranks 2nd next to MGM Grand in Las Vegas.


If you happen to visit Genting Highlands resort, I suggest that you try to stay at least overnight in any of the hotels inside and maximize your days in the area. There are a lot of activities to choose from and you'll never be idle in Genting. There's shopping, watching entertainment shows, theme park rides, games, SnowWorld experience and a whole lot more. For those itching and feeling lucky, you may try playing a game or two of slots, baccarat or poker in the casino. So many things to do and to choose from, so little time!

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