School-holiday Destination: Genting

Genting Highlands :: We wuz here.

People who know me well know how much I love to travel. And I haven't travelled in ages. The last trip I went to was Bali last year for a conference and I've been a good girl and stayed within 100 km radius of home ever since.

It was drizzling and we were chillin'.

As a mom, I would just like to note this one trip down, mainly because the pictures that Mazlan took were awesome and, secondly, we could all use some travel tips. I am not sure if Mazlan wants to share the pictures but he'll have to put up with me because I rock his world and I didn't take any. 

This was an ad hoc trip Mazlan shocked me into. I knew he had plans to go to Genting but since we are different genders the communication lines got mixed-up somehow and I didn't realize I was invited. So when he said aren't you coming? (two hours before leaving for Genting), a bit of cliche dialogue enters the conversation field before we managed to eventually load everyone into the car and leave at 2:30 pm in the afternoon. Yes, we have our leeeetle bumps.

By the time we reached the summit it was 5pm and raining.

Yeay...but we managed to still pose for the camera!

It was a weekday but there was quite a crowd so we had to queue quite a bit for the rides. With a small 3-year old and an 11-year old who thinks he's an acrophobiac (how does a mom handle that one?) , our rides were limited to the merry-go-round (twice mind you), the ferris wheel (at 2 km/hour), the dinosaur boat ride (that's been there since the triassic period), the bumper cars, and the rolls-royce ride (that was faster by 1 km/h than the ferris wheel but the most fun because the adults get to be the passengers). In addition, one of the adults who came along thinks she's claustrophobic so she forfeited the haunted-car ride. I guess we all have our weaknesses, *tongue-in-cheek*!.

second round on the merry-go-round.

yeah..we're moving so fast its crazy!

The luckiest chair for the luckiest kids!

We entered the indoor park after sunset and the inside crowd (after all the queuing and the rides) was a bit overwhelming -- for me at least. I managed to persuade Mazlan to check out the Ripleys Believe or Not museum. I've been to Ripleys in  Florida and London before and I know they have different stuff on display. It was pretty cool, and the kids get to roll on the carpeted floors while us adults drooled over the items Ripley encountered in his travels around the globe. The tour in Ripley's took us a good two hours. When we exited, it was nearly 10 pm and Q was half asleep.

On Ripleys awesome carpet.

So. Here's what to do and not to do on a Genting trip:

1. Plan the trip in advance with your significant other. Leaving early at say 9:00 am would be best. There's a mosque with an awesome ceiling halfway up the mountain where you can do your zohor prayer and eat your packed lunch. Believe it or not we did not eat at Genting except for ice-cream. There wasn't enough time to even think about food. Amazing, huh~~

2. Don't get the indoor-park tickets if you are only visiting for the day. You won't have time to check out the rides, and if you do, you'll be wiped out from the outdoor rides and probably would feel like just chilling at one of the restaurants.

3. Don't get the outdoor-park tickets if you arrive after 5pm and it's raining. Take a stroll and go indoors. They have some pretty fun rides inside as well, and the rain can't be good for your health.

4. And finally, bring sweaters and cardigans for everyone. Umbrella's would be good too because you will most likely encounter a drizzle if not a downpour. Get the ones that fold up really tiny and are easy to stick in your granny bag. And then get your guy to carry the granny bag. He will look responsible and it will bring colour to his pictures.

The boss.

The boss with the granny bag.

The boys with their hoodies

Iman in her pink sweater.

I wouldn't recommend Genting during the year-end school holidays mainly because it's now the rainy season. So, put your Genting plans on hold and and head to IKEA instead. Let the kids try out all the furniture and  play house. They'll enjoy it just as much as the rides at Genting.

In the London Bus. Genting 2012

And final word: thank you to my abang for taking us on a lovely afternoon out. Everybody in the picture above thinks you rock!  :P