POST PANDEMIC TRAVEL NIGHTMARE + THE NEW GENTING HIGHLANDS

Update:
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Please support our work and help us work towards our goal of doing a trip to New Zealand in remembrance of my late-father! 

We'll start with the super fun and light-hearted stuff first!

"Mama, I want to go to the place with all the games!". The two kids have been repeatedly asking to go back to Genting Highlands. We thought, why not? We didn't quite get enough time to see most of the massive new Genting. I grew up frequenting this place in the clouds and I must say it has transformed drastically. 

Fly with us on the Awana Skyway up to Genting here! The relatively new cable car system (newly completed in 2016) brought us through the clouds and the rainforest from the mid hills. Comfy, fast and offered amazing views. The station at the base is directly connected to the Genting Highlands Premium Outlets which offers a wide range of branded shops and eateries.  You can park your car there for the entire day for an affordable RM12. 

Cooling place for retail therapy!

There's chicken rice here too!

Modern, spacious and clean toilets!

We didn't experience any queues. Scan the pre-booked QR code and off we go!

Don't look down if you're afraid of heights! I must say this system is a lot faster and a lot more stable!

The last time we came, we had to take the old system because the new one was undergoing routine maintenance. They were both a felt a lot more safe with this new ride!

Flying into the clouds...

We arrived in time for dinner. We were greeted by the amazing food street lined by restaurants, bubble tea shops and pubs that play live music on the weekends! It felt so nice to hear a live performance again! 
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I never understand the allure of bubble tea...but it makes them happy!

We had dinner at The Laughing Fish by Harry Ramsden. Fish and Chips was about 7/10. The cod can be a bit fishy for some. Our food came warm and we thought it would be nicer if they came out piping hot from the fryer. We shared a big portion of Fish and Chips, a bangers and mash and more chips! I had mushy peas all to myself because nobody seems to like it? Why?!

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A British pub feel!

Complete with a bar counter

Look up! Its like Banksy dropped by....

The British say chips (french fries) and crisps (potato chips)

The legendary sized cod (RM70) is about the length of my forearm!

Bangers and Mash

We enjoyed Genting Highlands a lot because you can find shops and food for every budget. You can find activities for every budget and risk appetite. It caters to the young and old. Everyone gets to enjoy the cool weather outside and amazing views. You don't have to be rich to enjoy this place. It is a stark difference from some resorts that are exclusive playgrounds for gamblers and the wealthy. 

The transformation still amazes me! The mall is spectacular with all the digital screens! Gives it a Tokyo/Times Square and Piccadilly Circus feel. You can do a zip-line from the mall across the indoor theme park, scream your hearts out on the "superman" roller coaster or just enjoy a relaxing kiddy ride. Amazingly, the arcades are still where they used to be when I was a kid! 
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Some exciting rides

Some relaxing rides

They got to play their "games" at the arcade!

​Now for the nightmare 😱

​The pandemic has locked us in for more than 2 years. But it isn't done wrecking havoc in the travel industry. Crazy expensive Airfares, shortage of workers in the industry and a very dismal drop in service standards.

We've experienced our worst nightmare....AGAIN. If you've seen the previous time our trip got derailed , it pales in comparison to this nightmare. 

After a 7 hour drive from Cameron Highlands to Johor en-route back to Singapore to visit family, we decided to rest a night in an IHG branded hotel. The place was well renovated and had comfortable beds but as we lay down in bed ready to sleep, there was a COCKROACH on the wall. I flicked it onto the floor with a floor rag and ended it. Okay, we thought maybe it just came in from the outside. The next day, we returned to the room after a day outside, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE DEAD ON THE CARPET?!

The staff was apologetic when I informed them at checkout. Got extra points as a service recovery. We thought the worst was over. 

We've decided to base ourselves in KL for a few weeks to plan the next leg of our Grand Tour since we've been away from the bustling city for more than 2 months! We booked a very premium looking Airbnb unit that was very near to KLCC in Kuala Lumpur after wrapping up our amazing time in the Cameron Highlands Mountains. 
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Looks proper right? You'll be surprised what you'll find in there...

If you frequent the Airbnb website often, you'll see that many listings have reviews from 2 years ago before the pandemic happened. It has becoming increasingly difficult to judge how good are these properties from photographs. This was what greeted us...
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Absolutely filthy toilet bowl

Worn bedsheets that smelled

Unknown stains on multiple beds

Stains on the pillow

What the heck?!

When informed the owner, he was pretty nonchalant about it. It didn't seemed to affect him and he wasn't too bothered. It seems that many Airbnb owners (in my experience its over 50% of them) are not too bothered what debilitated state their rental properties were in. Word of advice if you are travelling and booking an Airbnb:

1. Book with superhosts as much as possible
2. If you are unsure about anything, ASK before you book via "contact host" 
3. READ the reviews
4. Always have a back up plan, be aware of hotels or other units you can possibly go to at short notice. The customer service will leave you stranded！

The nightmare however didn't end there for us. The owner didn't suggest a solution for us and so I proposed that he refunded us fully. He immediately accepted. ZERO apology, not a word to express any tinge of regret of the horrible experience he has caused us. Not to mention, we were stranded AGAIN!

We managed to book a 4 star hotel after some research and a quick dinner around the area. Checked in and decided to use the toilet. Lo and behold....
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Hello prehistoric old friend....

As if after 400km of driving, cockroach the night before, a horrid Airbnb that left us stranded wasn't enough....I went to the lobby to meet the manager and showed him this picture. Thankfully he was very apologetic and immediately got us new rooms and upgraded us.

We hope KL will be kind to us as we look for another accommodation for the rest of our trip! We absolutely miss the weather in Cameron Highlands already!
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​That's all for our double issue for this week. 

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