All In At Genting

Genting Highlands was one of our highlight stops for the trip in Malaysia and it certainly was a memorable one. I won around 200 US dollars in one hand of an unfamiliar version of Texas Hold'em in the casino. You play only against the dealer and bluffing does not really matter because the dealer always has to play his cards. The game also has a peculiar betting rule but the interesting was the BONUS bet where you can win pay outs by just having a very good hand. For example pokets (pair on hand) would give 3:1 pay out, poket Aces gives 30:1 pay out and if you and the dealer both get pocket Aces the pay out is 1000:1. The group was supposed to meet up for lunch and I told Mark that I'll just play last two hands and jokingly told him that I had a feeling I would get a pair of Aces and on that hand I did. At that moment I thought what if the dealer had Aces as well that would mean we're going to extend our stay in Malaysia. hahaha

But playing in the casino during our visit to Genting Highlands was just an ice breaker to the thoughts that was running through my mind when I was there. Normally I would be easily impressed with the mention of the place having 6 hotels with 10,000 rooms, a theme park, shows, casinos, restaurants and retail shopping outlets all in one place but not today. I'm more impressed with the man behind it all, Mr.Lim Goh Tong.

If you find yourself in Genting Highlands, there is a place there like a mini museum about the transformation and history behind the place and the people who had a vision, the character and the perseverance to follow through. I bought the autobiography of Mr.Lim Goh Tong in the hopes to be inspired by his journey and as I coursed through the book I was not disappointed. His story starts off by leaving his homeland (China) and trying out his luck in a different place like many of the Chinese people who settled and made their fortunes here in the Philippines.

If we digest their stories we would probably see a lot of similarities and it is amazing how these men could make huge strides in their respected industries while coming from humble beginnings.