Toobs Comparisons (Wild Republic vs Safari Ltd)

All this while, we have only Toobs from Safari Ltd. Following our visit to KLCC and Little One spotting his favourite animals, needless to say, we now have some similar toobs from Wild Republic's version.

So let's see what's the difference between the two, shall we?

The Packaging...

One extra incentive from Wild Republic is this play board. One can put his/her toobs and perform an imaginary play. Might come in usesful later on or not. In our case, Little One just ignored it...

1st up: Leopard Sharks.
Top is is Wild Republic. Bottom is Safari Ltd's design.

2nd: Whale Sharks.
Top is is Wild Republic. Bottom is Safari Ltd's design.

3rd: Blue Sharks
Top is is Wild Republic. Bottom is Safari Ltd's design.

 

 4th: Hammerheads

 Top is is Wild Republic. Bottom is Safari Ltd's design.

Finally: Great Whites
Top is is Wild Republic. Bottom is Safari Ltd's design.

I leave it to you to decide on which colour or rendition one would prefer. They both have their pros and cons in terms of replication.

However, I can comment on something that you can't see from the above pictures - the 'feel' of it. Safari's version is more soft rubber type vs Wild Republic's hard plastic. So the texture feels nicer to hold, in my opinion. In some renditions, Wild Republic's version is larger. Other times, Safari is larger...

Having said that though, ever since Little One came across Horn and Saw Tooth Sharks from Wild Republic, he hasn't let them go and it's usually, his bedside sleeping companions!

You'll have to pry them from his fingers... :P

The End.

Celebrating Birthdays, Puchong's Hidden (aka unkept) Park and Aquaria KLCC (again!)

Before you know it, yours truly had reached his 40th Birthday!
Wow... in any case, just a simple birthday cake suffices.

 With my Little One as usual the attention grabbing...

 Next to Puteri Mart, it's a small car park which is meant for this hidden park. It's somewhat disused and unkept. Pity as it could have been a wonderful place for people to unwind and relax...

 As usual, the children's playground grabs my attention more...

 While the playground was dirty, what I termed as unkept is the pathways, the 'mini' bridge that spans a small dam had broken planks...

 Not long after yours truly's birthday, came Little One's. And no, it's not 3 but 4 as we ran out of one candle! :P

 Regardsless, Little One couldn't be bothered and just as happy to blow the candles and eat his Shark!

Inspiration for his cake came from here

 Just under 2 years ago, we started Little One on his Marine / Sea Creature Montesorri Adventure. As you can see, his love for sea life hasn't diminised one bit! So here we are again. Visiting where it all started... Aquaria KLCC!

 And this time, he had more 'fun' as well... enjoying himself immensely with the baby shark pool!

 Here's one for the Birthday Boy!

 And even the Sting Ray came to say Hi!

The End.

Our CNY Meal along with Little One's enjoyment with Shopping Mall 'recreation'

This is version 2.0 for our Chicken Ham, Salad and Pineapple Wrap... 

But this time, we had a twist: Del Monte Pineapple Sauce! And boy, does this make this wrap of ours so much more ... YUMMY!

Family portrait photo outside of the newly opened Starling @ Damansara Uptown.

For dinner, missus decided to cook cashew nuts+dried chilli chicken. Yummy again!

Not so long ago, we visited Aeon Big @ Subang aka the former Carrefour mall. And they had these rides that you put coins / tokens in to captivate your little ones.

Fortunately for us, Little One doesn't need the fancy smanzy music or movements. He was happy to do play with it just like that himself!

His favourite? The Fire Engine... :)

The End.

Taking the MRT from 1U to Semantan

Doing a little jump here... Recently, yours truly had to pay a visit to Wisma UN. Since Moi stays near Damansara, and I didn't want to pay for the exorbitant parking there, I decided to take the MRT instead.

SO. Yours truly parked @ 1U station (which was deserted. Really.) At 0930H, there were only 5 cars (including moi's) at car park. Kinda eerie that.

BUT, once you get into the lift lobby... wow. Nice.

Now, I was a little confused with this. How can the G (Ground) Floor be consider THE floor for the MRT station? It's easily 2 stories high...

Anyway, once coming out of the lift, you turn right, and make your way across to the connecting pedestrian bridge that links the car park to the station.

The biggest difference between using the LRTs and this MRT are the 'doors' on the platform. Obviously for safety, this is fantastic. Doors open...

And doors close.

The entire network map of KL's Rail Transit System. In my opinion, the biggest missing link is something that goes from north to south, aka from Cyberjaya, across Puchong, PJ and then onwards towards Kepong.

For, if you wanted to go north or south, it's a huge detour... and a time waster.

When I was small, the government complex formerly known Pusat Bandar Damansara or affectionately PBD is now... gone! Demolished...

Yours truly, upon making his way back, needed to use the restroom. This is almost like Shopping Mall restrooms in that the layouts and aesthetic design just makes you go... wow.

Finally, along with audio information, you now have visual aids informing you on your current location and next approaching station. It's been a long time coming!

The deserted train as I made my way back after lunch...

This appears on the side of which the doors open.

Along with blue lighting! Cool!

Having used the LRT from Tmn Bahagia to KLCC for many years, the MRT (be it station or train sets) is certainly a huge improvement in terms of:
a) Noise - it's really quiet; be it inside or outside as you wait
b) Station Restrooms feel like a shopping mall experience from the outside; not like some after thought.
c) Visual Guides in the train sets - finally, we have it!
d) If you own a OneCard, then parking is cheaper. See here

However, I found some pet peeves:
a) I can't pay for parking via TnG. It's using the old ticket vending machine style.
b) G for station. Really?

Ranting:
Unlike the KJ LRT line, you can use TnG cards at the MRT. Seriously. What's up with these people? Previously, you could use TnG cards on the LRT. But now, you can't. Madness. Why can't we have a solution much like how Hong Kong or Singapore has???

In Sumnmary:
Is it worth it? I would say that once the second phase opens up (connecting Semantan to downtown KL and onwards), it's not surprising then if ridership goes up as I'm sure many stay on this side of the world and would like to ditch their cars behind...

It's a long time in waiting... :)