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After experiencing exhilarating Fun at the Peak on the second day of our Genting Highlands vacation, we made a short descend on the third day to visit the Chin Swee Caves Temple. We took a 10-minutes bus ride from the hotel to the temple, which is situated in the most scenic site of Genting Highlands. The unpolluted mountain air and the calmness of the surroundings made the temple such a place of tranquility that I could easily feel the peacefulness of the environment upon reaching the temple.

Within the temple site, there are 2 prominent structures – a nine-storey pagoda and a huge statue of Buddha.

There is a large square named Sky Terrace for visitors and devotees to walk around to enjoy the view. Here’s a shot of the Sky Terrace from the 9th storey of the Pagoda.

There are many traditional figurines and statues of traditional ancient Chinese characters such as ‘the Eight Deities’, the ‘Seven Fairies’ and the three Gods of Fook-Lok-Sou (Luck, Wisdom and Longevity), among many others.

Seen here is the Nine-Colour Dragon Wall of Luck, which stands at the entrance to greet visitors to Chin Swee Caves Temple.

The Genting outdoor theme park was one of the must-visit place during our family vacation in Genting Highlands and we did just that on the second day of our trip. This outdoor amusement park consists of children rides, family rides and thrill rides, making a total of 28 rides.

Let’s revisit some of the rides with the photos I took inside the theme park, and don’t forget to enjoy the video at the end of this post.

Two of the Family Rides – Carousel and Flying Jumbo – are very popular with the kids.

Here’s an ariel view (taken from inside the ferries wheels ride) of the lake inside the theme park where the boating rides take place.

The intense thrill rides are definitely not for the faint-hearted. Despite that, they were very popular and unsurprising, a long wait is guaranteed if one wants to take the rides. Here we see three of them, Spinner, Space Shot, and Corkscrew (roller coaster).

The Spinner is a whirlwind adventure ride that oscillates and tilts and take you to breadthtaking new heights and the spin of your life!

The Space Shot lifts 12 thrill-seekers 185 feet into the air and hurl them towards earth at speed of 67kmh!

Enjoy the video.

School’s out (for the son) and the holidays are here, so it’s time to take a long-awaited break for a family vacation. Last year, we went to Kulua Lumpur, Malaysia, for our family vacation. This year, we went back to Malaysia again, but this time, it was somewhere further up in the mountains! To be exact, our vacation brought us to Genting Highlands Resort, otherwise known as Resorts World Genting.

Nestled on a mountain at an altitude of 1800 m (5900 ft), Genting Higlands is a City of Entertainment for both young and old. The resort offers six hotels with over 10,000 rooms, outdoor and indoor theme parks with over 50 fun rides, 170 dining and shopping outlets, shows, business convention facilities and not forgetting, it’s the only place where one can gamble legally in Malaysia.

The kids were thrilled to be vacationing at this “Paradise on Earth” where the temperature is a constant cool of 14 – 16 degree Celsius, and one can literally touch “clouds” when fog descend upon the mountain.

Hotel First World which has 6,118 rooms is listed in the Guinness book of world records as the largest hotel in the world.

On a clear day, there are stunning views to behold down into the valley and the city beyond.

But when it rains and heavy fog envelops the mountain, it can get pretty chilly and visibility can drop to near zero.

Next we take a look at the First World Plaza which houses the indoor theme park, cinema halls, a bowling centre, lots of F&B outlets, convention halls, a casino and a huge shopping mall.  Without sounding too cheesy, it is indeed an all-weather, all-activities-under-one-roof integrated resort!

In my next post, I’ll bring you to the outdoor theme park for some thrill rides! Stay tune!

After the rigours of some hard trainings, which culminated in my second marathon run, it was time for some rest and relaxation to rejuvenate the body and mind. I chose to escape the hustle and bustle of city living and went for a weekend getaway in Kukup.

Kukup is a small fishing village located at the southwest of Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It is about 1 to 1.5hrs journey from Singapore by coach depending on traffic conditions. Kukup is famous for its open-air seafood restaurants built on stilts over the water.

Our accommodation for the 1-night stay was not in hotel rooms but chalets. The chalets are not floating as the photo suggests but they were built on stilts. Facilities available for use by chalet’s guests include karaoke set, AV equipments, mahjong sets, table tennis, and board games.

In the late afternoon, we took a short boat ride to a nearby kelong where the locals rear fishes and sea creatures for a living.

After the short boat trip out to sea and back, we were treated to a sumptuous BBQ seafood dinner. After a tiring day, the evening was capped off with some fireworks. We got to “play with fire” as such fireworks are banned in Singapore.

The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2010 official results were released and my official timing for my second marathon run is 4hrs 45mins. I didn’t achieve my primary target of a 4hrs 30mins finish but it was a vast improvement from my maiden marathon timing of 5hrs 37mins.

I will have to train harder next year to better my personal best and achieve the target time. Congratulations to all runners who have completed a great run and/or better your personal best time! See you again next year!