Genting Highlands: Getting there, renovations

Genting Highlands is under the same company, Resorts World, as Sentosa in Singapore. Genting used to be a popular destination among locals and tourists because the higher altitude makes the climate much more comfortable. It is breezy and not humid like in Kuala Lumpur. I use the past tense for "used to be popular" because it is undergoing major construction tearing down the outdoor theme park to re-build a new one with 20th Century Fox so tourism has been affected.

Genting Highlands

Getting to Genting Highlands
To get to Genting from Kuala Lumpur (KL), go to KL Sentral station to buy bus tickets. The ticket booth is a bit hard to find. It is on the second level so go up the escalator, turn left and walk straight. The booth should be on your right hand side. The bus takes you to the base of Genting and you have to take either a) a cable car or b) a free shuttle bus to the hotel area. When we went the cable car was down for its monthly maintenance so we bought the bus ticket excluding the cable car price. It cost RM8.60 for roundtrip from KL to Genting.

The ride from KL Sentral to Genting was 50 minutes in a comfortable air-conditioned and clean bus. The shuttle bus up to the hotel took about 20 minutes because it went slowly up the winding road.

KL Sentral; source: www.skyscrapercity.com

What to do at Genting
The old main highlight of Genting was the outdoor theme park but it was already closed and demolished since 2013. We stayed at the First World Hotel which is connected to the Indoor Theme Park. It is one of the largest hotels in the world with over 2000 rooms! The lobby was large with rows of chairs like at a bus terminal. The rooms are small but clean and had everything we needed except WiFi. That was a major downer that there was no WiFi in the room so we had to go to a restaurant to use it.

First World Hotel behind the theme park construction

Since there was no Outdoor Theme Park and it was raining outside (when we went) there were not much options left except to eat, walk around the First World Plaza, bowl, and look at the Indoor Theme Park. We did not go to SnowWorld because it did not interest us since I come from a country that snows. We also didn't go on any Indoor Theme Park rides because they were catered for kids and didn't gamble at the popular Genting Casino just because I don't gamble. But those are all available options.

Indoor Theme Park

There were a lot of dining options from food courts to restaurants at Genting. Prices were higher than in KL but affordable options are available. Bowling was inexpensive (RM3.60 per game during certain time) and pretty fun! First World Plaza is the shopping mall under the First World Hotel but there are only a limited number of shops.

Food places by the First World Plaza

There are shuttle buses that take you to other parts of Genting Highlands like the Chin Swee Temple (didn't go because it was raining) and Awana Hotel. However the shuttle bus times are not very frequent.

Shuttle bus schedule to Chin Swee Temple

Lastly...
Genting Highlands is very affordable to go to from KL now because hotel prices have dropped with the closing of the Outdoor Theme Park and buses are cheap. So it is worthwhile to go to but not for long periods. I was there for one full day and left the next morning. At the end of my full day I already did not know what to do because there is only so much entertainment in the indoor space. As well many things were not organized well at Genting and lacked the efficiency of another Resorts World place, Sentosa, that I was used to.

For example, the shuttle bus down to the base of the highlands to take the bus back to KL does not have a set schedule. When we asked the information desk, their reply was simply that we would have to wait in line, get on the bus, wait until the bus is full for the driver to start the vehicle. This vagueness is horrible for trying to get on the bus towards KL on time because we had already bought our tickets.

In the end we left the hotel 1.5 hours before the scheduled KL bus time to find the shuttle bus queue (which not all staff knew), queue for awhile (many tour groups ahead of us), and make the ride down. Leaving the hotel 1.5 hours beforehand for a normally 20 minute shuttle bus ride only left us with 5 minutes until the KL bus departed! This rushing could have been avoided if there was proper scheduling.

In general going to Genting can still be fun as long as you are aware of their organization problems!

Public bus: Singapore to Johor Bahru (and beyond)

There is a very affordable method to take the public bus from Singapore to Johor Bahru (JB) for a day trip or to the Larkin Bus Terminal for buses to other parts of Malaysia. Bus fares bought in JB to parts of Malaysia are significantly cheaper than bus tickets purchased in Singapore. You can compare private bus company fares using this website (note: I've bought tickets on the site before, very useful).

I will discuss the costs, pros and cons of taking public buses versus private bus at the bottom of the post.

Jump to parts of this post:
Departing Singapore
Crossing the link to JB
Arriving in Malaysia
Larkin Bus Terminal
Cost
Time
Pros and Cons

                                              

Departing Singapore

Take the MRT to Kranji station and follow the crowd out of the exit to where the buses are (it'll be obvious!) Take bus 170 to Woodlands Checkpoint to exit the Singapore border. Bus 170 costs S$0.87 with the EZ-Link card and S$1.50 by cash.

Especially if you're going on a weekend, depart early. I was there at 7:30am and there was already a long queue of about 40 people that was continuously growing. Alight with everybody else at the Woodlands Checkpoint, have your passport ready and exit the Singapore border.

Bus 170; source: busesingapore.blogspot.com

Woodlands checkpoint; source: therealsingapore.com

Crossing the link to JB

Once your passport has been checked, exit the doors to the bus terminal outside. It will be hot and probably crowded. You can look for bus 170 to take you to the Johor Bahru checkpoint to enter the Malaysian border. In my case, I took the CW2 and paid RM2.60 which included the bus fare beyond the JB checkpoint to Larkin Bus Terminal.

Singapore to JB; source: freedomaires.wordpress.com

Arriving in Malaysia

The bus will alight at the Johor Bahru checkpoint and just follow the crowd to have your passport checked again to enter Malaysia. Once that is done, walk down the wide corridor and down an escalator to find the bus terminal. We boarded the CW2 bus again since we already paid for the trip to the Larkin Bus Terminal. You can take other buses (they will be labeled!) to the centre of JB for shopping and the likes.

Johor Bahru checkpoint; source: sg.news.yahoo.com

Larkin Bus Terminal

There will be many private bus companies offering rides to many places in West Malaysia. But popular destinations like Malacca do get sold out quickly! It costs RM20 to bus from JB to Malacca compared to S$21 from Singapore to Malacca. Approximately S$1 = RM 2.6. You can read about my experience taking the bus from Singapore to Malacca here.

Larkin Bus Terminal; source: whattaworld.wordpress.com

Cost

Bus 170 S$0.87 + CW2 RM2.60 (S$1.00) = S$1.87

Time

This trip can vary from 1.5 to 3 hours depending on traffic. My trip took 3 hours because I went on a public holiday.

Pros and Cons

If you're considering going to other parts of Malaysia via Larkin Bus Terminal at JB for the cheaper fares there are some pros and cons. The most evident pro is saving costs but you may be sacrificing or saving time.

The first time I went to Malaysia I took a bus from Singapore to Malacca. The bus dropped us off and picked us up at every checkpoint so we did not have to look for a public bus. It was convenient and we got to sit in an air-conditioned vehicle. However our entire trip from Singapore to Malacca was delayed by 2 hours because a few passengers were held up at the border (possibly due to passport problems?) so all the passengers on the bus had to wait for them. That resulted in arriving in Malacca late and cutting short our sightseeing.

The second time I went to Malaysia I took public transit to JB before buying a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. Cost: Public bus $1.87 + Private bus RM34.30 (S$13) = S$14.87 to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur which is twice the distance of Singapore to Malacca (private bus S$21). 

This second time was a public holiday and very very crowded. At both the Singapore Woodlands checkpoint and the Malaysia Johor Bahru checkpoint we alighted the bus and followed the crowd to get to the checkpoint by foot when the bus was nearby but stuck in traffic. The walks were about 10 minutes but the ability to be mobile because we only took public transit is key. If I had purchased a private bus ticket I would be forced to wait for the vehicle because it would take me beyond the border.

Bali 4-Day Itinerary: Day One

4 Day Itinerary in Bali

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Kuta Beach, Bali

Day 1

Departing from Singapore we took a 7:15am flight to Denpasar-Bali. The flight was 2.5 hours long. We encountered our first scam in Bali at the airport so be careful!

Jetstar flight

Upon exiting the departure hall there will be many taxi drivers yelling "taxi! taxi!" at you and ushering you towards their taxis. We could tell that we couldn't just get on any taxi and negotiated a price before getting into the car with one driver but we made the mistake of getting into a taxi without a metre. Our hotel was only a 10 minute drive from the airport and we were charged Rupiah Rp 150,000 for a normally Rp 10,000 trip. Only take taxis with a metre, like the Blue Bird taxis!

We stayed at Eden Hotel for the duration of our trip and had a good experience there. The hotel is new and clean. There was staff cleaning the place all the time and more staff at the outdoor pool making drinks and food. We were able to easily exchange money at the hotel counter. Don't trust the many money exchange stalls saying they don't take commission because they will find another way to take a portion of your money!

Kuta Beach

After dropping off our things we walked around Kuta. The area is very touristy with crowds of foreigners and locals, many stalls and even more cars and motorbikes. Vendors were trying to sell you products or services constantly as you walk past them. The famous Kuta Beach was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel and to be honest I was quite disappointed.

The sand was dirty with pieces of cigarette butts and beer cans. The water was brown and murky. It was not anything like the images you see on the internet but that is what happens to places that have been overpopulated with tourists. 

After viewing the sunset at Kuta Beach we walked further to the newest mall called Beach Walk. The mall has clear western influence and were filled with more tourists than locals.

Dinner at Beach Walk mall

That is the end of a relaxing Day 1! A more eventful Day 2 followed with a full day tour of the island.

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Bali 4-Day Itinerary: Day Two

4 Day Itinerary in Bali

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Tanah Lot

Day 2

We joined a full day tour around the south of the island. We joined Bali Bagus Tours and all we had to do was email our information to the company before arriving and paid at the end of the tour (Rp 650,000 for one car). The owner Suta answered all our questions promptly via Whatsapp prior to arrival and his employee, Ketut picked us up on time at 11am at the hotel.

Since it was a private tour we had some flexibility in where we wanted to go and in what order. We visited many destinations that would've been quite impossible without a car since there is no public transit.

We visited Celuk village, a Batik clothing factory, a coffee plantation, the Ubud Money Forest, the Tegunungan waterfall, a temple at Mengwi, and the famous Tanah Lot.

Making Batik clothing

Coffee Plantation

The coffee plantation seemed to be a family business and the owner patiently showed us his garden of fruits, herbs, and coffee used to make his products. We got to sample many flavoured teas and coffees for free. Only the Luwak coffee required a small fee. The process of making the Luwak coffee needs the (rather angry) animal photographed below.

Animal for Luwak coffee

Sampling coffees and teas

Ubud Monkey Forest

The wild monkeys at the forest are all used to people and will not hesitate to come up to you if you have food! One sitting woman had a monkey climb on her head and try to remove the sunglasses and hat she was wearing so be mindful of your accessories from these playful creatures.

Ubud Monkey Forest

Tegenungan waterfall

Pagodas at Mengwi temple

Tanah Lot

The Tanah Lot was the highlight of this day tour and was the last stop. Tanah Lot means "land in the sea" because the temple is only accessible during low tide. When we were there the tide was already at shin height so we didn't walk to the temple to avoid getting our shoes wet. The scenery was very beautiful and I especially liked watching the sunset here. The only downside is that there are a lot of tourists.

Tanah Lot sunset

We were dropped off at our hotel by 8pm due to traffic and thoroughly enjoyed our day of sightseeing.

End of Day 2! Did jetskiing in Day 3.

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Bali 4-Day Itinerary: Day Three and Four

4 Day Itinerary in Bali

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Day 3
The plan was to spend a good portion of the day at Nusa Dua beach doing watersports. Taxi from our hotel to Nusa Dua cost Rp 90,000. We rented a jetski for 30 minutes (Rp 540,000) and had fun driving it ourselves until it started to rain very heavily at the end.

We already haggled down the jetski price and I'm not sure what the standard price is but it seems quite overpriced to me. Last year at Kenting, Taiwan I only spent NT500 (USD16) on jetskiing and an inflatable boat ride. Compared to Rp 540,000 (USD46) for only one activity.

Nusa Dua

The rain lasted for about 15-20 minutes but it was very heavy. Everyone playing watersports got out of the water and the beach was empty. Since the sand was already so wet we didn't even bother waiting for the rain to go away to tan there. So we headed back early. There were only a few photos from Day 3 since we were a) in the water jetskiing or b) in the rain.

Nusa Dua

Day 4

This day was only departure day. We took an afternoon flight back to Singapore. Overall this Bali trip was short and had a good mix of relaxing days and sightseeing days. If I were to go back I might do a volcano sunrise hike!

Read Day 1 here - Kuta Beach
Read Day 2 here - Full Day Island Tour
Read Day 3 and 4 here - Nusa Dua Beach

Revisiting the Hundred Islands of Alaminos, Pangasinan

One of the most common answer when you asks Pinoys (we, Filipinos) where's the best place to do island hopping, well, the popular answer would be none other than in Alaminos, Pangasinan's the Hundred Islands. Hundred Island is a national park in the country that is about 1,800++ hectares. It is composed of 124 islands during high tide and 123 islands in low tide and these islands are scattered all over the Lingayen Gulf.

How to get there?
Board any bus that is bound to Alaminos, Pangasinan. You may take the Victory Liner in Pasay or in Cubao. Travel time is about 3-4 hours and fare is around 400 pesos. Once you are already in Alaminos, go to the terminal of Lucap and take a tricycle ride going to the jump-off point of Hundred Islands National Park called Lucap Wharf. Fare is 15 pesos per pax.

As you reach the National Park, you have to pay an entrance fee of 20 pesos (for day tour) or 40 pesos (for overnight in any of the island) per pax. It is also the site where you can hire a boatman to tour you which ranges from 800 pesos to 1,500 pesos depending on its size.

I've already been to Hundred Islands and also blogged about the place, refer this link, so this blog post will be just like an update or an additional information on what else can you expect when you visit the Hundred Islands. In my first write up about Hundred Islands, I featured its 3 major islands, namely: Children's Island, Governor Island, and Quezon Island. As for this blog post, aside from revisiting the said 3 major islands, I also went to its other minor islands and islets.

Children's Island

Approaching Children's Island

Governors Island

At the viewing deck of Governor's Island

Marcos Island (and the Imelda Cave)

Near the Quezon Island is a unique island named Marcos Island which is named after the former president of the Philippines, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. This is also my well-loved island in Hundred Islands. I find Marcos Island as the most attractive site compared to other islands of this National Park because aside from its clear and clean water, the sand here is also powdery and creamy. 

Busy shore of Marcos Island

It's not only the white sand and the clear water that draw people into Marcos Island. Because taking the 50-meter trail in Marcos Island will lead you to a twin-chambered, cathedral-shaped cave. The cave is named after the former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos' better half, Imelda. Imelda Cave is not an ordinary cave as this is also a pool that is 70 feet deep. Cliff jumping is being held here and considered the most popular activity of this site. Bats are also also visible on the ceiling of Imelda Cave.

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Cliff jumping site of the island

Marvin holding that unknown kind of jellyfish. Nothing happened to him after this shot

Cuenco Island

Cuenco Island is known for its cave. A cave that even shallow and short, visitors will be able to see different limestone formations in different areas of the cave. Cuenco Cave has an opening on both ends. One end is the entrance and docking area for its visitors and boats while the other holds a diving area and now, a Resto Bar and Grille has been established. So if you're looking for some foodtrip in this island tour, then you should visit Cuenco Island.

Entrance of Cuenco Island's cave

The other end of the cave

Other Islands and Islets

The island that is full of fruit bats

What's up Ter?

Edmarc has his own little thing going-on in this shot

Just a random island that we chose to stay in.

Since it was not everyday that we had a chance to bond. We definitely maximized our island hopping at Hundred Islands by going to some other islets nearby. Whenever we saw people in an island, we really tried to visit it and board on it as well. Good thing that our bankeros (boatmen) were really patient enough and entertained everything we ask to them.

Breakdown of Expenses:

Bus (Cubao to Alaminos) - 400 Pesos

Tricycle (Alaminos Terminal to National Park) - 15 Pesos

Entrance fee - 20 Pesos / Pax

Boat rental - 1,500 Pesos / 5 pax = 300 Pesos / Pax