Genting Highlands - 2 decades on

Well...almost. Our last visit to Genting Highlands was when Bryan was like 2 or 3 years old. So it's been more than 15 years since. The reason why we're there (10-12 Aug 12):

This fella ...

was invited to perform at this.

As proud parents, we had a maternal/paternal instinct to show our staunch support for our casino ... oops, wrong ... son during his performance.

He did well, judging from the interested crowds ...

Busking at First World Plaza

Appreciative crowd

A twist here...a turn there ... and voila 

Well, we can't be forever standing there staring at our son ... support has its limits ... and he needs a break from us blah blah ... excuses, excuses. So we scuttled off to explore ... the air is great; really 'cool' in both literal and figurative sense, the malls are ok - can get some good bargains, the food a tad expensive at some places, the casinos... now THE casinos ... well...

I don't know about the big rollers but for us small-time social 'gamblers' (not sure if we even qualify for that title - casinos would have long gone broke if they depended on us!!), the Genting casinos are great. To qualify, as we don't play table games, the slot machines are great. Simply because we can stretch our $$$. You get 5 x RM50 for S$100 with some spare change. In HCMC, you get two miserable pieces of US$50 for S$120+. And since the machines are mostly the same in both places (2¢ and 5¢) - so one gets to play (lasts?) a lot longer in Genting than in HCMC, which in a way adds to the fun as we're not there to make serious money and worry a lot about losing it. The variety of slots machines is amazing - I like the way wikitravel puts it - you can have your "vice of choice".

No wonder there are so many uncles and aunties there. We, the new birds, made some enquiries at  the agencies in Golden Mile. At offpeak periods, you can get a 3D2N stay at First Hotel for S$88 (inclusive of a return ride on a 26-seater luxury coach). Now ain't that a bargain?

However, you get for what you pay for - so don't expect RW Genting to have first-class facilities and amenities like RW Sentosa. The theme parks are rather old, First Hotel (where we stayed) is ok - can't complain except for the check-in time, food is ok if you're not fussy etc etc.

We boycotted Starworld Casino mainly because of their card system. They require us to sign up a new card which is a pain as we've already signed for the Genting Worldcard. Then their cards have a big problem "talking" to the machines ie 4 out of 5 machines will have problem reading the card. On top of that, the buttons are not responsive and you end up punching your PIN many times, compounding the above problem. After a while, it becomes a real pain to machine-hop. And if you want your money back (if you have any left in the first place!!), you need to queue to get it physically from the cashier. In the end, we gave up. We're there to have fun, not frustration.

Monte Carlo, Circus Palace, Hollywood Casinos use the Genting Worldcard system which is a lot more efficient. All you need to learn is to slide your card into the slot in a specific way. The rest is a breeze.   Apparently, you acquire points from playing and can exchange for certain benefits like free hotel rooms etc.

Monte Carlo - the biggest casino there

Another part of Monte Carlo

We stayed at First Hotel - that gawdy, strange rainbow-themed 3-star hotel. It holds the world record for a hotel having the most number of rooms - 6,000 + rooms. No wonder it takes such a long time to check in. We took about a half hour but I read complaints about 2-hour waits.

Really gawdy, isn't it?

Looks better hidden in the mist!

There was no breakfast with our hotel booking so we tried the "Bakery" - which I must say has very good breads. The breakfast muffin (with scrambled eggs and ham) was great and a generous portion to top it; so was the chicken pie and coffee. And that's how "Bakery" became our fav breakfast haunt.

Muffin, chicken pie, coffee and my dear wife :)

Some other attractions at Genting :

Hotel Highlands in the sun - nice and cool

Hotel Highlands in the mist - nice and cold

Genting Skyway- very nice ride. RM12 for a return ticket.

Here's where we end - Gohtong Jaya - small shopping centre there

Became all misty again when we went back up to Genting

One of the 2 theme parks

Casino victim ... RIP!

Playing with this app whilst at Genting

Minor-major problem ...

...when a foreigner's bike breaks down. The bike was fine yesterday, and today - battery completely flat. Minor problem for locals. Major problem for me. To push bike up the slope from basement to the road, then push to the shop, try to communicate the problem and finally to get the batt fixed. Thank goodness the shop is just next door. End result - new battery and 385,000vnd (S$23) poorer. 

A "new" shop

Was surprised to see a new shop set up near our block recently. Stared at the big words but didn't understand as it was in Vietnamese. Didn't see the single very important English word at the bottom of the board - so blind!

So curiosity killed the cat and the cat went to take a peek at the glass shelf, and was bowled over ... rofl. Who would buy such stuff here at the hidden corner? Then again, who am I, a foreigner, to judge - here's wishing Rocket powerful sales!!

Shang Palace & Badminton

DINNER. Went for dinner at this highly-recommended restaurant called Shang Palace Chinese Restaurant. It's a nice place but was quite empty as seen below. Ordered a simple dinner of half-Peking duck, noodles, soup and dessert. Came up to about 1,200,000vnd (S$72) for both of us. There's a 10% service charge and 5% tax. I think Koh Thai restaurant gives better value for money. It is said that Shang Palace serves the best dim-sum  in town but we haven't tried that yet. 


Address : 1st Floor, 17-19-21 Ly Tu Trong St, Dist 1 (Tel 0838 23 22 21)
Website : www.shangpalace.com.vn

See the wine collection?

Empty tables

Decor

BADMINTON. Finally found a place to play after all these years here in HCMC, at the invitation of a very kind lady, Michelle Tran. Am I unfit!!! Almost met my Maker after a few minutes of play!! A long way to go to build up some decent level of fitness. Guess it's a good thing. Continue my present sedentary lifestyle and I will certainly meet my Maker real early. 

The courts are near Cho An Dong. Managed to drop by there to get some roasted lotus seeds at 260,000vnd a kg (stated price was 280k). That's cheaper than those sold in Cho Ben Thanh.

Sr Beatrice

Hock and Amy are here in HCMC for a visit; Hock with his CHR colleagues and Amy with her family. Had arranged a visit to see Sr Beatrice as Hock wanted to say hello to her. Sr B is as fit and healthy as ever - bless her!

Had breakfast with Hock, David, Kelvin & Kim. Mine was ostrich steak.

Sr Beatrice & Hock

The compound at 42 Tu Xuong

Oliver Twist comes to Saigon

Despite being in HCMC for so many years, we have yet to step into the Saigon Opera House for any performance. What a shame! Now that Oliver Twist is coming to town, what better opportunity to experience a performance in the Opera House than to grab 2 tickets. So grab I did not but pay I did - 600,000vnd (S$36) a ticket - this morning. Looking forward to 4 May 12.

Dai Nam Wonderland

Heard so much about it. Since Mum and her relatives are coming up soon, thought we'd check out the place. Decided to bike there instead of taking a cab. 30km and 80 minutes later, we found ourselves at  the newest and biggest theme park in Vietnam. One pays for the entrance ticket (70,000vnd) and then again for whichever games/rides you want to try. For starters, it's a ghost town today. Which was good as we don't like crowds...but even this was a little too much (or should it be too little?) for us. Most rides were empty.

Dai Nam Wonderland has 5 distinct sections : Dai Nam Beach, Dai Nam Open Zoo, Worship Zone, Amusement Theme Park & Camp Site. Won't bore you with the details. See website for more details.

We only walked through the Theme Park and Worship Zone. We're not the beach kind so that didn't appeal to us. And the Open Zoo was really a long walk away. There are bikes available for rent though. You can also rent a personal tram that seats 6-8 pax. There's a free tram ride to the Theme Park - just after the entrance. Not sure whether there are free tram rides around the whole park - most signs and information are in Vietnamese - very inconvenient for tourists.

A man approached us and said that we could have free transport around the park if we ate at his restaurant. His is a legitimate restaurant but we found the prices on the high side. Wanted to charge us half the price of a set meal for 6-8 pax - and we were only 2!! Price for us ranged from 500-700,000vnd - quite ex as the menu seemed quite ordinary. Local food, fruits and drinks are widely available around the park and at quite reasonable prices, except for the above restaurant.

As for the games/rides in the Theme Park, there are quite a number (40 so the park claims) but most were empty - roller coaster, bumper cars, pedal boats, horror pyramid - but nothing out of the ordinary. Some are rides found in international theme parks but the atmosphere and feeling's different here - not quite the same if you get me.

Walked through the Worship Zone where's there's this huge Golden Temple - impressive and very peaceful inside the temple (maybe because there were only a handful of visitors). The artificial "mountain" range - looked more like small hills - was ok, again nothing spectacular.

There was an advert for a supermarket but all we found was a departmental store with several small vendors. Don't think of getting any souvenirs of the park - the only available ones were pathetic looking t-shirts. A Vinasun taxi stand sits at the entrance (lots of taxis) and is co-located with the small bus station. Bus No 616 gets you here from the bus station across Ben Thanh Market. So getting here is no a problem...just a question of how long it takes.

Some say that the park is so big, you'll need 2 days to cover it totally. True if one wants to see and experience everything in Dai Nam Wonderland. If you really need to stay, there's a hotel available. But it looks to us like there's nothing much to do at night there, and there is nowhere that you can visit at night...a ghost town at night.

We left with the feeling that this is a theme park more towards Vietnamese taste (which is fine since it caters to locals) but a long way from international theme park standards. But then again, the cost is also much lower, so one cannot really complain. It's like a big big Dam Sen or Suoi Tien (the other 2 theme parks in HCMC)...nothing really spectacular. Worth one visit and I think that's about right for us...but then again, that's only one opinion.

Getting there : The cheapest option for the tourist is Bus 616, next is to bike there and finally there's the taxi (which will set you back anywhere between 400-600,000vnd (or more) depending on where you are staying)

Taking a short break along the way

The entrance

Buying tickets

The most misleading sign.
Theme Park Entrance (1st line)
does not equal Ticketing Booth

Departmental Store

Pyramid (Horror House)

Rather lame props in the Horror Pyramid

Five Phoenix Discovery (a ride)

Trash bins are turned upside down all over the park.
Trash bags are placed next to it instead?????

Inside the Golden Temple

The Golden Temple

"Mountain" Range