Monday, July 13, 2009

Some fresh mountain air - the Genting Highlands of Malaysia

Refreshing....that is about the best way to explain our adventure to Genting this last weekend. We almost (I said "almost") forgot we were still in Malaysia. The weather was absolutely amazing and the views were breathtaking. Our hotel was at about 3000ft and the top of the mountain where all the activities were was at about 6000ft...way up in the clouds. There were times where you couldn't see 100ft in front you, just pure white and then as the clouds would pass it would be a bright clear day. We had about 65-70 degree weather at the top and it was usually 70-75 degrees at our hotel....just gorgeous! I never thought I could go on and on about the weather, but when you live in a tropical climate year round you really do appreciate the times you can escape the heat, even if only for a couple of days!

Here are the boys on our way...we had to make a pit stop for a fun diaper change for Coop, while E chilled in his seat watching his DVD (and that is his new best friend with him, little Clifford). It was only a 2 1/2 hr drive, so it wasn't bad at all. It was really surprising the drastic change in climate in such a short drive.

The main attractions at Genting are their theme parks (they have both an inside and outside theme park), casinos, and other entertainment areas...geared towards families. We didn't visit the outside park because it was mainly for the older kids, but we did ride a few of the rides they had inside....like the merry-go-round, an indoor ferris wheel, a train that took us throughout both the inside and outside park areas, and E rode these little cars that he had to go on by himself. He thought it was pretty cool the first couple of times around, but by the 3rd time he didn't care for it much any longer, we thought he was going to start crying. After getting off he came to me and said "mom, I don't like the cars, they go faster." Cooper loved the merry-go-round and probably could have rode on it all afternoon!

After a fun-filled afternoon on all the rides, we headed back to the hotel so the boys could nap. Later that evening, we had dinner at the hotel and then took a "firefly viewing" tour that the hotel offered. They took us out in a golf cart once it got dark and toured us around their beautiful 18-hole golf course (Andrew was kicking himself for not taking his clubs with him - the course was gorgeous and the temperature could not have been any better!), where in one spot we were able to see a dozen or so fireflies - I'm not sure Evan had ever seen one, so it was pretty exciting for him.... for a whole 2 minutes!! Cooper thought they were pretty cool too, but I think their favorite part was simply riding in the golf cart. The tour guides made a couple of different stops so we could get out and take in some of the great views (even at night), and E would say "let's get back in the golf cart and go for more rides!"

After our tour, we got the boys to bed and then Andrew and I headed back up to the top of the mountain to do some gambling. I was actually pretty impressed with the casinos here, they "looked" alot like some of the smaller casinos you see in Vegas (I was expecting much less - given a casino in a Muslim country), although were nothing like them at all....we never found a black jack table (ended up playing something similar called Pontoon)...they had all these crazy Chinese games ....and they didn't provide any booze...what? a casino with no drinking - it's off limits to the practicing Muslims, so why no drinking?!?! Needless to say, we didn't last there very long!

Waiting for our golf cart to come collect us for our "firefly tour"

The next day we didn't have much planned. We had really intended on going to the Genting Highlands just to spend some time outside, so we tried to get as much of the outdoors as possible. We didn't get a chance to ride the gondola when we arrived on Friday, so we decided to head back up on it Saturday morning just for the experience. It was a 15 minute ride from our hotel to the top of the mountain. It was really a great sight - nothing but pure jungle below us! We spent the morning up at the top then headed back down after lunch for the boys nap. After nap time, we spent the rest of the afternoon roaming around the hotel grounds. We intended on going for a hike while were there (the hotel had a specific trekking path you could take that was about 3km - perfect for the non-hikers like ourselves), but I forgot to pack the back carriers - how does one forget the one thing that the entire trip is centered around - leave it to me!!! We ended up finding a large cleared area with grass where both the boys loved just running around. I don't think Evan has ever seen such a large area of grass before where he could run until his heart's content.....which he did...along with the rest of us!! We had a fantastic time taking in the wonderful weather and did I mention the lack of mosquitoes...it was heavenly!!

The hotel offered horseback riding as well. I tried to convince Andrew to let Evan ride...which he was completely against...and it ended up being the best decision ever - the horse was crazy!! E and I went to pet it (of course, asking the owners first if we could - realizing afterwards that maybe they didn't speak any English) and it completely freaked out...good thing we never tried to get on it, it probably would have thrown us off!

Cooper thought walking around in the grass was the coolest...it was nice and padded for him when he tumbled!

We also had a good time on the rope we used for swinging - I think it was intended to be for climbing, but we had much more fun swinging on it. E thought the first few times were fun, but then said "let's stop now"...his cue for "this isn't fun anymore." My little fearless one loved it of course - I think he was probably saying "go higher, mom"

E had a great time feeding the ducks, chickens, birds and peacock (another crazy animal I might add....he must have been starving because E could hardly get the cheerios we were feeding them through the holes before he'd start pecking for it!) Cooper, on the other hand, not much of a animal kind of guy...he loves looking at them, but would rather eat the food himself than feed the animals!!

This is on our way out - our hotel was the one up towards the top of the picture - the single one in the middle of the mountain. Because of the cloud cover, you can't even see the top of the mountain in these pictures.

It was a great trip and we sure do hope to get up there again before we move back to the states. It's a shame we only found out about this place just now. We'd known about it, but no one who had visited before ever talked it up much. I think it's because those who have talked to us about it don't have young children and everything associated with Genting is centered around families with young kids...explains alot! And let me tell you, we saw PLENTY of small kids!!

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