Genting - The City of Entertainment

First World Hotel provides a few types of rooms ranging from the really budget standard-view rooms (approx. 25 USD) to the super-deluxe rooms (approx. 50 USD). We stayed in a standard-view room, which was rather small (but clean), with very basic facilities (a few shelves, a cupboard, and a phone). There is an attached bathroom with a hot shower. However, there is no air-conditioning provided, and it isn't necessary - the same effect can be achieved by opening the sliding window and letting the cold mountain air in.

First World Hotel is located centrally and is linked to a number of other hotels and shopping complexes via covered walkways or corridors. Its exterior is splashed with various bright colors and can be easily identified from the rest of the buildings. It is pretty easy to access the other places of interest, such as the casino and the amusement park, from the hotel. Restaurants and other eateries are also within easy access. The hotel staff are friendly and the services are prompt. The thing that most impressed me was that the hotel staff actually bothered to decorate the lobby area when major holidays were near. We went in early January, so the decorations for Christmas were still up, and the staff were in the process of changing the decorations to welcome the Chinese New Year, which was nearing then.

Overall, this hotel provides value for money (and some of the cheapest room in the area), especially to backpackers who do not mind living without luxurious items.

The Genting amusement park is divided into 2 areas for indoor rides and outdoor rides. There are a three types of tickets which allow one to either take the indoor or outdoor rides only, or both. Tickets are sold on a per-day basis which allow unlimited rides throughout the day. There are also tickets sold on a per-ride basis.

The indoor rides are really suitable only for children - adults will find them really unexciting. The outdoor rides are more appealing to adults and many of them are suitable for children as well. Quite a few of the rides are really adrenalin-pumping and are not for the fainted-hearted or for pregnant ladies. One of the most popular rides there is the "Spaceshot", which is a giant chair that slowly lifts up to 12 persons up into the air for about 30 m. The ride up provides a fabulous view of the Genting highlands and one would wish there could be more time to enjoy the scenery before the chair suddenly went into free fall. A very exciting ride!

There are also the regular stuff like the roller coaster, pirateship etc. Kids would love to take a ride in the cute "caterpillar" monorail that goes around the amusement park.

There are lots of fun-filled and exciting rides here in the outdoor portion of the amusement park and the whole day can be easily spent here without realising it. Personally, I would recommend to get the outdoor ticket. It is far more value for money than the indoor one, and there is bound to be a ride suitable for anyone in the family.

Snow World is an attempt to bring the experience of winter to the warm tropics. To most of us here, snow is probably nothing unusual, but it is something not seen in Malaysia, even in the cold highlands. Hence, this attraction is really targeting the locals instead of foreigners.

Warm clothing, gloves and boots are provided to the visitor before entry but most of them are still clammy wet from previous usage, making them rather uncomfortable to wear. The only dry item is the winter jacket and given a choice, I'll rather give the rest a miss.

Essentially, Snow World is just a giant chiller room with some nice decorations in it to simulate a winter night out in the snow. At the time of our visit, there is a small two-storey wooden hut built within it and several statues carved out of ice. I have to admit that the ice statues, including ice reindeers, are pretty well made. The wooden hut was also well-decorated to generate the Christmas mood. Once in a while, "snow flakes" will be released from an opening on the ceiling, much to the excitement of little kids below, who try to grab the snow flakes as they are coming down.

Whatever "snow" that was released soon turned into hard ice under the trampling of a constant stream of visitors. Some of the ice had actually turned brown from all the dirt brought in under the visitors' shoes. Thus, it may be a good idea to avoid playing with the "snow" on the ground for hygiene sake.

All in all, this is an OK place, but is not quite worth the money for those who had seen and played with real snow.