First World Hotel is the garishly painted building to the right
1 weekend ago, I made a trip to Genting Highlands... more specifically, the casino + resort hotel + amusement park complex on top of that very high hill with my sis, Wolfy and his current bf.
To be honest, visiting a resort-amusement park-casino really isn't really the kind of holiday I go on. Most of the time, I usually travel with the family... (NOT a holiday at all :P) or alone. And I tend to look out for either cultural/historical sites and related activities.
So why did I go to Genting? (In my mind, a place that exudes outdated glitz, crass commercialism and tons of sad stories about either gambling suicides or ghosts) Well, firstly a Genting package from the local tour agent is cheap. Secondly, it was a chance to go on a road trip with Wolfy. Thirdly, I was hoping to verify if half the supernatural stories that originate from that place are actually real.
From the get go, this was a really really really.... sleep deprived holiday....:P The bus left the tour agent's Beach Road office at 7am... we had to get there by 6.30am! And to save money on cab fares, I actually spent the night at my sister's office.:P - It was nearby and since it's a trader's office, all the night brokers were in.....:P Naturally, I didn't really get any sleep because there were no sofas or empty tables to lie down on. All the lights were on... all the traders were handling trades till 5am +++ and the 24 hour Starbucks downstairs somehow lacked air-conditioning....
At first I tried the Starbucks .... found a comfy sofa and started to read.... I thought MAYBE... I would get tired enough to fall asleep..... I was reading some ritual magic text for about 30 mins before some Filipino woman showed up.... plonked herself on the opposite sofa and started reading some book that had the ominous title of "Purgetory & Damnation"..... :P (WHY DO I ATTRACT THESE TYPES???!!)
I decided after that the night was better spent in the office..... the whole scene smelled like some kind of set-up for some of my karma to trigger off :P
I didn't really manage to get much sleep on the bus either. The stupid bus played some Chinese movie halfway... I think it was called "The Sniper"..... a VERY VERY contrived show that reminded me a little of "Enemy At The Gates" (another sniper movie, but better made).... and everytime the snipers fired their guns, the BANG! BANG! woke me up.:( The noise was so loud even the music with hyped up volume from my mp3 did not help :P
So I ended up slightly bushed at First World Hotel.... yes, for those of you who have been to Genting on a cheap package... that means waiting 2-4 hours for your room! Why it is that the people at First World cannot get their act together and check in everyone in like 30 mins to 1 hour is beyond me :P I mean, First World looks like a standard large hotel with a grand marble lobby and lots of counters. It isn't exactly some flea-bitten motel in one of the small towns dotting Malaysia. And most people from the tour groups have made advance reservations...
I must say, I didn't quite expect quite so many buildings in Genting.
When I was last there it was over 20+ years ago, and I was about 12 or so. My impression of the place was a single hotel with shabby grandeur and a single notorious casino. The road up was treacherous, puke-inducing and at night, bone-chillingly cold and foggy.... VERY VERY foggy....
There were no shopping centres, amusement parks or anything else for that matter. Why anyone would want to go there apart from the casino really amazed me.
Well... it is quite different now. 5 or so hotels, 2 casinos, rides, exhibits, movies, shops.... well.... I guess there is SOMETHING to see.
I suppose I really enjoyed watching the movies.... unfortunately never got to experience seeing it in OSIM chairs... since the cinema management took them away....:P and I liked the haunted house and the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" exhibit. The visit to the small town just up the hill was pretty nice too..... We found out that they had recently built some strawberry, mushroom ... etc farms nearby..... and of course, I really loved the visit to the chocolate factory where you can get freeze dried fruit chocolate and apparently chili chocolate too... but they ran out of it when we were there.....:(
We were really really lucky that the rooms were new and very clean....(this is not something apprently that patrons of First World Hotel can expect, my sis kept reminding me to bring a pair of slippers because "the room floors were not clean". Apparently, this is true for the old wing of the hotel. And Wolfy kept reminding me about the standard proceedure to invite spirits out of the room... because again, First World Hotel is not "clean".) and that we only waited 2 hours or so for them.... (again.... instant check-ins are not expected )
Since we wanted to maximise our Genting trip.... we spent the daytime part going places.. and went to the casinos at night.... like at 2-3am at night.... I actually ended up sleeping at 5am on the first night!
Now, the late night would not have been so bad if not for the fact that there is apparently no such thing as a non-smoking zone in Genting. People puff up everywhere. In the shopping centres, hotel rooms, casinos, eating places.... you name it.... Well, the casinos had some non-smoking zones, but the smoke from the smoking parts were so bad, and the casino was not well-ventilated that... having a non-smoking zone does not matter at all :(
So I ended up sleep deprived and oxygen deprived as well.... amazing.... since Genting is known for its crystal clear mountain air.....:(
I also took this opportunity to explore some of the Genting legends.
For a casino-resort that's pretty unremarkable and known in its earlier days for all the sleeze that goes on in its crowded, public gambling floors (read... non high-roller section), Genting has more than its fair share of truly eerie and strange tales. I think most of it probably originated from tragic cases of gambling gone wrong. Apparently, taking a swan dive out of the hotel windows was someting that broken gamblers who have lost every single penny... sometimes more....would do. In fact, the hotel windows at First World cannot be fully opened. The windows in my room could only be opened to a width of less than 30 cm. .... certainly not enough for someone, even a small person to squeeze through.
Anyways, legend has it that certain parts of the hotels were haunted and one evening, after midnight, Wolfy and I went exploring haunted places like the old wing of First World Hotel and the old casino.... apparently, according to local gossip, when the casino was built, the owners had gone to the bomohs and got some "kwee kias" (ie. baby foetuses in jars which are somehow magically transformed into spirit kids who are under the control/employ of the one who holds the jars) to help the house win. Therefore, old-time gamblers would bring sweets and scatter it onto the floor to "distract" the resident "kids" and thus have better chance of winning against the house.
An alternate legend found on the internet the told to me by Bob's sister has it that when the casino first opened, 10 Thai ladies who were pregnant checked into the hotel that was attached to the casino and apparently when they checked out again, they were not pregnant and did not have accompanying babies. The insinulation is that some Thai bohmoh was paid off, along with the 10 ladies to provide spirit servants for the casino. :P
Well, since we were ghost hunting, I went to the old casino, partly to catch a glimpse of the "kwee kias" and partly to test my own divination against the results of the dice rolls on the game "Big Small". Well, although Wolfy himself has seen 1 or 2 of the ghostly kids, I did not see anything... other than some funny ripple of... air.... energy... something that occasionally floated on the surface of the carpets.
Now, it cannot be confirmed that just because ghostly kids are seen, they must belong to the casino. More than one hardcore gambler has also been known to carry his/her own jar. And sadly, often some of these jars are simply abandoned by gamblers when they don't get the result they want. Besides, there are tales that keeping one of these jars is a very very committment-intensive activity. "Kwee kias" have to be fed regularly and often with stuff that's a bit gory.
Well, I didn't have much luck hunting for ghosts in First World. I only saw partial flashes of people ... sometimes, in a lonely corner... but no actual full-body manifestations. The only time I actually saw something substantial was when I was watching TV in my room, and I saw the shadow of a man appear in my room and walk through the wall into Wolfy's room. He later saw the same guy in his room by the TV. :P
My sis I think would rather not know about any of this so I didn't say anything till the trip was almost over.
So why am I doing this? Well, I'm right now at the point where I feel I have to make a decision about whether I'm going to be afraid of this whole spirit business or not. To be honest, I feel terribly unprepared to be able to "see" anything... and sometimes, I wonder if my own hesitation is preventing me from moving forward. And since I'm the kinda person who confronts issues, well, my own search has brought me to some strange places and situations.
On the whole the genting road trip was okay... we had fun..... Wolfy returned home sick and had 1 week MC... and I think his bosses' jaws are dropping.
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