Late Entry - Genting Part 1

Late entry for recent Genting trip during CNY holidays.

I was on a long leave during the CNY week.
初一 and 初二 were Mon and Tues, I had to take the remaining Wed - Fri leave since my company forced us too. All because our partners mostly resume office operations on the following Mon after CNY.

Since I was on such a long leave, casually asked my parents if they were keen to go up to Genting for a short break. My dad has been working very hard whole 2008 and I want him to have a rest before starting a new 2009. He did not immediately agreed for the trip and said he would have to check if his schedule permits.

And the end conclusion: Yippeeee! He was able to make it.

We set off on 初四 morning at approx. 1030 hours after our breakfast. Oh btw, I also asked my friend of 15+ years, Aron, to join us for the trip. Anyway, back to where I was... we hit the Malaysian highway by 1110 hours and "chiong" all the way towards KL.

Cut the story short, we started ascending Genting Highlands around 1530 hours and by 1545 hours, we reached Chin Swee temple. Tough luck, traffic jam during this time! Seems like alot of cars were stopping along the sides of the winding road and I was wondering what happened. I SHOULD NOT have asked to know why... cause the unexpected happened.

There was smoke rising from my side (front passenger) of the car. I immediately wound down the windows to look out, trying to see exactly where the smoke was emitting from.

DAMN! From the front left wheel!

My dad decided to stop the car along the road as he also felt there was insufficient power to get the car going up the mountain. We opened the bonnet and there was smoke coming out from the car engine, with a terrible "burnt" plastic + metal smell.

One driver who had parked his car in front of us earlier asked us what happened, and we said we didn't know, just that the engine doesn't seem to have enough power to keep the car going. He mentioned that there could be a problem with the clutch.

We just nodded our heads and decided to let the engine cool down first before trying to ascend the mountain again, since some of the cars which we saw parked along the side earlier had started ascending after half and hour's cool down time.

Things couldn't get any worse! It started raining and we had no choice but to get back into the car and spend another 45 mins inside.

At about 1745 hours, we realized this was not the solution and we decided to call up Genting Hotel's helpdesk to get some tow truck to tow our car up to the workshop near the hotel. We called the number of a tow company provided and was disappointed to know that even the mechanic wouldn't want to risk getting his tow truck up the mountain, especially when there's a jam. Ohhhh yes... it was still freaking jam at 1800 hours!

Just when we thought all hope was lost, an Indian guy approached our car and asked if we needed help with our car. He inspected the engine compartment and found that the clutch pads had actually worn out (the car is Manual Transmission) because of the constant friction during the jam. He said he can either pull the car to a nearby workshop (down the mountain) or provide repair services on the spot (at a higher price though). We decided to get his repairman to do the repairs on the spot because our car is afterall a Singapore car, and we would have trouble if the car was not returned to us (you can never be too sure when you are in a foreign land).

The damage: A whooping RM 1,400!

Tadaa... there you have it! Losing money even before you step foot into the casinos.

Anyway, it doesn't seem like we have a choice and we agreed to engage his services. We managed only to hail a taxi up Genting Highlands at 2030 hours. When we arrived at First World Hotel, we were famished! Immediately did our check-in and went for a quick dinner of noodles at the noodles house (just beside Hainan Restaurant).

Aron and I were excited to have finally reached Genting. Actually, not really exciting for me, since I have been here quite recently in 2008. Aron, on the other hand, had not stepped foot in Genting for more than 10 years!!

We walked around, enjoying the cool air and I suggested catching a movie, on an OSIM massage chair! I did not managed to try it the previous time I was in Genting because the movies then were not to my liking.

We booked the 0330 slot for Underworld: Rise of The Lycans. Must be crazy! Watching a movie at 0330 was something out of this world and I would never do in Singapore. (>_<")

Anyway, we went into the casino for awhile to busk in the CNY ambiance, totally SMOKEY! Cannot stand the smell, especially when the NO SMOKING signs were put up all over the hotel lobbies, halls, everywhere but THEY STILL SMOKE!

End of Part 1

To be continued....