Chinese Temple at Genting Highlands, Malaysia - in keeping with my blogging tradition of posting things a year late or so, here're some dragons to welcome in the year of the Snake. Just check out my last year's Chinese New Year's post and you'll see some rabbits welcoming in the dragon
Dragons on the roof top of the temple, amidst the thick jungles
Wishing all of you and your loved ones a happy, prosperous, and good beyond your wildest imagination, New Year of the Snake!
May there be success and wealth, peace and good health. May there be abundant happiness and harmony in your relationships!
We will, unfortunately, not be seeing any of the usual CNY fanfare again this year, being in Assam. But I'm planning to make the best out of the situation. Going out later to the local bazaar to get some new clothes for us, and to get some firecrackers to light up on the New Year. Yup, firecrackers are easily available here hehe, at least, there's a one up over Malaysia. Let's see whether we can get some red packets or not...
Leaving some photos of Genting Highlands, the closest I can find to some semblance of CNY, to brighten up the day. These are, as usual, taken quite awhile back, in 2007 & 2008.
Genting Highlands, Malaysia - Genting Highlands is a highland resort, theme park and casino near Kuala Lumpur, nestled in the mountains of the Titiwangsa range, the main mountain range of Peninsular Malaysia. It was the brainchild of one Malaysian Chinaman named Lim Goh Tong, who invested everything he had in the 60's and 70's to develop the resort from scratch, transforming the once virgin thick jungle into one of Malaysia's main tourist attractions, and what was once the main (& only) gambling destination of South East Asia. Looking back, I will say that Genting was THE gambling destination of the entire Asia previously (to me it was surprisingly better than Macau in 1997 when I visited HK, Macau & Southern China). Of course, Macau & Singapore might have caught up since. Needless to say, Uncle Lim died a very rich man in 2007 (or so) for the gamble that he made.
Chin Swee Caves Temple, Genting Highlands, the bane of gamblers, or so my uncles and aunties used to call it. Gamblers are an unusual lot (and we've got a fair share of 'em in my family). They'll blame their bad luck on anything that crosses the mind, and they'll absolutely avoid this temple, which is located just before you reach Genting Resorts proper just because of the name of the temple. Chin Swee, which in the local Cantonese dialect means 'clear water', also means 'clear money' in colloquial Cantonese. I remember that when I was a kid, my gambler uncles and aunties used to swear by their lives (or more like their money) that Uncle Lim named it that way to clear the loot from the potential gamblers on their way up to Genting.
Anu, at the First World Hotel, the world's largest hotel (once upon a time, I'm sure someone would have broken the record by now). I'm not kidding, there is a plaque with the Guinness Book of Records embossed on it, at the lobby of the hotel proclaiming that. 6000 over rooms, just imagine.
One of the theme parks at Genting Highlands
