Just Cruizin On Bluemoon

Log 69

These last few weeks have been absolutely hectic!! Kids spent time helping or just being around Amanda and Fakhrece while they were getting the coffee shop ready.. Then sadly Zaid left for Kuala Lumpur as he started a new job and that was very sad - saying good-bye, so a goodbye night was held where we all went to Amanda Coffee and Tea shop and drank coffee till our eyes looked like spiral lollipops!! LOL .The coffee is delicious!! Such a treat to us!! Then it was the testing night, tasting all the different coffee?s on the menu!! I was in coffee Heaven for sure!!!!! Some really great tasting coffee?s unlike we have ever had before!! Such an awesome time was had at the opening night for the coffee shop which we all know is going to be a wonderful success!! Then came the real hard work... also went to moor up at the marina, while the kids worked their bums off completing the work they were behind on!! I was making coffee at 01:30am for the kids!! Also we were planning this surprise trip for Justine?s 18th... and doing all the paperwork for the school, so we postponed our trip to Bangkok, Cambodia and Vietnam... to give Justine her own day which was such a success!

We were so jam packed busy that we never had time to do anything else or concentrate on anything other than what we were busy with getting it all done by D-day!!

We certainly needed a break after that!!! Unfortunately, the so called plans we had made, turned belly flop on us as when we phoned for confirmation, we were told that everything was fully booked.... and we were not Malaysians who get discount packages... long story! Anyway, now we had to start all over two days before we were bound to leave!!!!!! Hotels, busses, ferries, planes, etc... etc... travelling with five people is not so easy without your own transport... and not talking the same language can also be a problem... misunderstandings... as we got to experience, also we had to get 18 gifts!!! Yet none of that stopped us or got us down!!!

We decided to give Justine a ?Surprise 18th Birthday trip? which also included 18 things to do and 18 gifts!!

It was real exciting not saying anything or giving anything away though we did mess with the kids, like which train we would take, or did we pack the snorkelling goods etc which of course had nothing to do with our trip!! So Justine thought we would take a Chalet at Rebak marina and Jonathan thought we were catching a train to Singapore! Jess had no idea about where we were headed....we had only told the kids what they should pack and that was all... they had no clue as to what was really going to happen.....

So... after re-arranging our trip because it was Hari Raya and the school holidays and the planes, trains, and hotel?s were fully booked ....  our day arrived.... when we were all dressed and packed we gave Justine her 1st gift (which was gift 1A), tickets for the ferry to the mainland, Alor Star, Kuala Kedah.

She was thrilled and so were we all... we lifted our backpacks and bags and headed for the ferry which is a two minute walk... right next to the marina. We boarded the ferry, took our seats and were so happy to see other people handling the mooring lines LOL

It was a smooth, two hour trip..... arriving at 4:30pm... taxi drivers wait like hawks outside the terminal arrival hall LOL though was quite an adventure finding our way around... where to catch the buses from etc.. ...though thanks to a visitor who told us which local bus to catch to take us to Pekan Rabu Market. It was a great ride passing through smaller villages and endless green paddies....We arrived at "Pekan Rabu" which literally means Wednesday Market which is located in the middle of Alor Setar

The complex is a five story building which has 274 stalls, while the second part of the building which is also a  five story building has 73 stalls. It?s an open Bazaar, similar to a flea market concept, and has collections of small stalls selling a variety of stuff.... from jewellery, textiles, food, books, crockery, medicines, tailors you name it... it is crammed with shoppers and is very colourful!!

We walked around investigating, had a coffee then headed off in search for something to eat..as we did not feel like vendor food.... we had some time to kill and so looked around while we walked looking for a place to eat... KFC it was and we thoroughly enjoyed our meals while the sun went down.... Justine got gift 1B which were tickets for the Coach bus to KL. We were catching the 10pm bus from across the road from Pekan Rabu, and so were all spread out relaxing after walking back to the market..... next minute someone threw a big cracker... right next to us!! I fell to the ground and was totally deaf in my right ear!! John and Jono both got a big fright too! The culprits thought it was so funny!! The girls too were shaken up... Jono went up the stairs to ask them to please stop! He was very upset about this!!!

So while I am sitting on the ledge of the stairs still with a loud ringing in my ears... I am sure I hear a squealing sound...then thought it was just the ringing in my ears... next thing I feel something boring into my side of my leg!!!! It was a huge rat!!!!!

That bus was the highlight of my evening when I saw it arriving!! Another half hour and we were at the terminal to catch our bus, the Durian Burung Express.

Now this is a sight to see... this place was busy, busy, busy!!! Buses coming and going... people all around waiting for their no to come in.. we still had to wait awhile so went into Marry Brown where we had a good cuppa coffee, sitting on swings which are in the coffee shop!! Justine was playing the juke-box which was real funny because the manager and staff were all putting the juke-box on with a variety of music after her ... so we swang while sipping coffee and listening to good music1

Finally it was time to go.. Our coach had arrived. We would arrive in Kuala Lumpur in about five hours, so had to try and sleep as much as we could as we had a full day planned for Friday!!! We managed to doze and woke just before the bus stopped just over five hours later without stopping.... we got our luggage and were so excited at how big and beautiful KL was!!! All in the dark!! The place was lit up by all the lights!! The buildings were stunning! The twin towers amazing!! AAAAhhhh just wonderful!! We were at Mc Donald?s having a full breakfast at 6am!! Then came the misunderstanding.... the hotel we had booked into was full and we could only book in later that afternoon!! We needed to freshen up so we managed to hire a room across the road for two hours to shower and change which was so refreshing!! We were allowed to store our luggage in the room downstairs at the hotel we had booked into.. That was a relief!!

Then we headed for the bus terminal which was also right across the road through a walk bridge...what a site to see!!! We bought our tickets to the....... GENTING HIGHlANDS!!!

Genting Highlands is a major entertainment Theme park,  2,000 metres above sea level  which is in the mist-shrouded mountains. It?s located about an hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and the Genting bus does quiet a few trips a day!

The trip up was quite a surprise! So green and much cooler than the city!! And so pretty!!!

There were many stunning things to see .... we arrived and had to walk up to the Genting Skyway. Now this was incredible!!

There was a very long queue due to the holiday season, though the queue went rather fast as you are allowed up to 8 passengers per gondola which went quite quickly also, the speed of the gondola  moves at a maximum speed of 21.6km per hour above tree tops of tropical jungle with fantastic views of breathtaking mountain scenery. Along the way are animatronics (animations of sculptured animals and 'orang asli'). It's supposed to be a relaxing and fun experience that sharpens your senses. Though it is incredible that your surrounding is  covered by mist and ?pure? air and has a mystical fog that hangs over the surrounding hills!

The Skyway cable car is the fastest cable car ride by speed in Southeast Asia, and one of the longest in this region. And quite nerve wrecking at times.... especially when you are in the mist and can see nothing in front or behind you!! Though a wonderful ride up the steep mountain!! This place is huge with so many people!! So we kinda got lost looking for the Indoor park!! LOL

Genting has everything to offer including natural cool mountain air and 24 hours of non-stop entertainment catering for the many diverse cultures and visitors from all over the world.

It features six hotels with 9,000 hotel rooms, over 90 food outlets, a shopping paradise of over 80 stores, indoor and outdoor theme parks with more than 60 fun rides, and over 10 leisure and entertainment venues. There is a super-exciting video arcade games amidst a futuristic atmosphere. The only legal casino in all Malaysia, offers all the usual games plus a selection of Chinese favourites. It is open 24 hours, but you must be 21 yrs and not a Muslim.

There are so many rides to enjoy at the Outdoor Theme park.

The thrill Rides - What a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Pirate Ship /Flying Coaster / Spinner / Super Toboggan / Cyclone / Bumper Boats /  Flying Dragon / Rolling Thunder / Mine Train / Sungei Rejang Flume Ride / Corkscrew / Grand Prix Fun Kart / Space Shot (Terrifying!!!) LOL

Family Rides - Monorail / Astro Fighter / Tea Cup / Pirate Train / Flying Jumbo / Mini Train / Boating / Space Adventure / Antique Car / Matahari / Dinosaur land / Double Deck Carousel

My what choices we had!!!! Then you got the Indoor Theme Park!!!

It is a fantasy land full of fun and adventure!

You also got a Game Arcade - Vision City Game Park with Kiddie Rides

So.... with so much to do and so little time we headed for ?Snow World? which has the temperature at minus 5 degrees Celsius, we were kitted with mittens and heavy jackets and had such a thrill tobogganing down a steep slope slide!!! What fun!!! We just kept going up to go for another thrill!! We had such a laugh! We indulged in a snow fight which was really funny and we all enjoyed the falling snowdrops on our faces!! It was like being in the middle of winter on open slopes in Canada!! We ended the snow fun at the New Freezing Bar with an ice-cold ice-cream!!

Then we were off to the Genting Sky Adventure which is a state of the art skydiving wind tunnel that gives ordinary people like us the chance to feel the thrill and sensation of jumping out of an aeroplane and free-falling through the sky just like a skydiver!!!! Justine and Jono went on the skydiving simulator and got a certificate for flying in winds up to 196 km/hr!!

They had a 10 minute lesson by an experienced and friendly body fly instructor who are there to safely guide you through. What a laugh watching Justine trying to balance and not speed down or up!! And Jono bouncing off the walls!! LOL It was brilliant!! We were not allowed to take any pics and so purchased a video and pictures of their skydiving experience!! Now this was an experience in a million!!!.

We walked around and were thrilled to see so many bright and wonderful things!!! We saw the Eiffel Tower,  the statue of liberty riding a motorbike!! . In the middle of the arcade is a larger-than-life Oscars statue, Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, and so much more!! You also have the Haunted Adventure which is a ride that is not for the faint hearted. LOL You must prepare to test your faith as this ten minute ride might just change your perspective on the life of the after world ...LOL  Also, so exciting!!! They have a Motion Master Theatre - Malaysia's first-ever 4D movie experience!! And it is an experience! You have the X-pedition Wall - where the kids tested their skills on some rock climbing. It's been real fun watching these kids climb with ease and flexibility!!!

Everyone tried their hand at the Archery!!! And boy did we have some bulls eye!! We walked through the Arena of Stars which is a walkway with a venue hosting some famous celebrities

that have performed at Genting, like Richard Clayderman, Air Supply, Michael Jackson, etc... we then headed for the Cineplex to watch G-Force. Also we went on the Venice Gondola!! Which was really quite nice! LoL    John and I like two lovebirds heheheh (It felt real enough)

We managed to eat something light then head off back down the Skyway to catch our bus back to KL where we managed to pick up our luggage and head for our two, ajoining rooms - 601 and 602... We all had a very hot shower and were exhausted though we hit the midnight hour and wished Justine then watched as she had to read on each gift a clue as to what was in the gift!! It was such a laugh a minute! We gave her many gifts, but some were just more special than others... we got her a special handmade photo-album with photo?s from birth right up to her 18th year and all the pics we take now will be added (some). We wanted to give her a special charm bracelet, which she already has, but we wanted to buy at certain times different charms representing different things in her life... but that never happened... she also got a netbook computer which she was thrilled about!! So we managed to give her 18 gifts which included the Genting Theme Park as one... her tickets to different places was gift one a, b, c, d, etc... which included the flight back to Langkawi - an hours trip which was fully booked going to KL!!!!! Anyways, we all crashed the minute we hit that pillow!!!! Revived somewhat, we got up very early and were at breakfast by seven.. we managed a quick bite and a coffee then headed off across the bridge to the station and caught a bus back to Genting Highlands for day two... well this was quite a day!! It was freezing cold and going up the skyway was just stunning!! With lots of mist, yet that did not get us down!! We were dressed in shorts and long sleeve shirts ready for the water adventure rides in the out-doors park and got stuck for a while playing a few games where we all won some soft teddies!! Jessica won a big blue dolphin which she gave to Justine, and Justine won a little dolphin which she gave to Jess.. Jono also gave his teddy to Justine... There was no way I was giving my cute medium sized teddy to anyone!!! heheheh And I was also keeping my gorgeous dolphin which John won for me!!! heheheh The heated pool is covered.... you have a rainforest splash pool, a wave pool, action river, big bucket, tornado slide and many more!

Then it was off to the Flying Coaster which is a unique hang-gliding roller coaster.. we twisted, swooped and zoomed around all the turns and drops!!!  Screaming because we could!!

Then we headed to the Space shot where we braved to buy four tickets... No way Jess was going on this and we did not blame her!!!!!!OOOoooh this ride is a rapid vertical ascent and descent amusement ride. It is really intense and not for the faint-hearted .that I promise you!! It lifts12 people into the air, three per side, giving an exciting G-force on the way up and a feeling of weightlessness on the way down - the most speechless moment of my life!! You get to take in the scenery around you on the way up, as this ride is an open-air ride. We are strapped onto seats, three to a side of the tower. Justine and I along with a Malaysian sat on one side, the front side facing the park!! While Jono was on my right on that side of the tower and John was at the back... while we were on the way up... and going higher and higher, Justine was saying ?I can?t do this!!? over and over... and the Malay girl was saying ?I want to cry!!? Now you cannot get off until the ride is over.... hehehe so the Malay girl snapped out of her mood and was joining in with me telling Justine to just take in the view........look... it was quite scary this feeling being so high off the ground!! 55 metres!! Then you get to look at the scenery around you for like 3 seconds and next thing you drop at about 67 km/hour!!! You lift off your seat and free fall!!! There is no pretending when you scream!! That I promise you!! Yet we were all glad we did it, though had a good laugh as the Malay girl balled her eyes out when she got off and I could barely walk as I was shaking so much! And Justine was as white as a sheet!! Jono also got a fright which is kinda unusual for his dare-devil nature!! John too felt a little shaken and Jess had a good laugh at all of us!! Heheh It was fun actually!!! Though if we had known how the ride would have gone, I am sure we would have headed the opposite way LOL We dared to go on the spinner which was very fast!! I managed to grab Jono?s foot and hold on which made him go much faster when I let go!! LoL that was fun!!!

We have been on so many rides in these last two days, that it has actually exhausted us!!! Though we will definitely go to Genting Highlands again given the chance as there is so much to do and you get to have so much fun...we never went to the casino and don?t care much about gambling... but the amount of things to do is endless!!

We finished off with pizza for lunch, Justine?s choice, headed back down the skyway and caught the bus back to our hotel. We showered and freshened up then hit the town of KL after 10pm walking to the main road that has all the nightlife!! We checked out every restaurant there was and Justine decided on ?Paradise? which was an Indian, Pakistani restaurant which had the best Breyani and mutton curry ever!! We had ?nan? which is kinda the same as roti?s... it was really a nice treat!! We all overate silly!! Then when we finally did walk home found that it was such an effort!!! heheheh - Now John and I bought the 3-in-1 nescafe? sachet?s as they do not have coffee in the rooms, though you can get hot water, so we were topped up with our coffee while we all sat and shared the few days adventure mixed with laughter and just enjoyed till it was way past the early hours of the morning, so we all showered crashed falling asleep almost instantly!!!!

We went down for breakfast at 9am and ate like kings!!!! (not even thinking about all the more kilo?s to love!! Lol) then dressed for the day, packed our bags and gave them back in to be stored till 6pm that night... we gave Justine the last surprise of gift one with the air tickets back to Langkawi that night at 10:15. Then we hit the road and went to explore Kuala Lumpur or "KL" as it is commonly known, which is bustling with people and action!!

 The city's busy streets, its shining, modern office towers, are a site to be seen!! Like a mini Nw York!! There are travellers from all over the world!!!!

The Petronas Towers are quite something to see in real life than in pictures!! The Petronas Twin Towers are currently the world's tallest two free-standing towers, the 88-story Twin Towers soars to a dizzying height of 452m above the city skyline. (1,453 feet)

This gleaming architectural delight inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam is the centerpiece of the ultra-modern Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Situated within the towers is the Petronas Philharmonic Hall, home of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Petronas Performing Arts Group. Unfortunately we could not get tickets to go to the top!! Yet enjoyed ourselves in the breathtakingly expensive shopping mall inside the towers!! Also the tower was quite spectacular too, this imposing 421m concrete tower is reputed to be the highest in Asia and the fourth highest in the world. You can enjoy a bird's eye view of the Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley from the dizzying height of its observation deck or the revolving restaurant and the tower is also a transmission station for telecommunications networks, radio and television. Quite stunning!

We headed for a huge KFC and had lunch which was yet again too much for all of us!!! We then headed back after seeing so many things which I cannot even remember!! We collected our luggage then headed for the bus station to catch our bus to the airport which is actually quite funny... the trip to the airport is about an hour and a half, yet the flight to Langkawi is an hour!!! We were quite happy to get to the airport after the long scenic trip. We booked in the bought coffee and chocolate then boarded the plane. The flight was real quick and quite enjoyable!! The taxi driver stopped at the shop so we could buy milk and sugar for our coffee when we got back to Bluemoon which was truly enjoyable!! Everyone had a wonderful time in the short time we had, and enjoyed the surprises as we went along.... though we would have liked to spend more time at Genting as there were still so many rides we never tried... Maybe next time.... now it is back to settling into the school routine and getting back into the sailing life....

Till the next log... keep the mail rolling guys!!!

We love to hear from ALL of you!!!!

Will keep you posted as to our plans .....

...

Love always, John, Jenny, Justine, Jessica and Jonathan