L'abeille turns THIRTY TODAY

Click on the cake to see what happened on my birthday!

Insurance = Peace of Mind?

I believe it is a norm for people to get themselves insurance nowadays. It is a necessity for most of us. We buy travel insurance before going on a vacation, home insurance for a new house and car insurance is a must for all vehicles on the road in Malaysia.

All of us would come across insurance agents peddling their products sooner or later. While getting insurance cover for oneself is important, one must be wary of the unscrupulous agents whose sole objective is to make maximum profits from each deal.

Let me tell you my personal experience:

I bought my first policy upon getting my first paycheck. The agent was my friend from the university, a Mechanical Engineer by qualification, but a full time insurance agent. He was recruited by an insurance company during his undergraduate days.

As I were a trusting sort those days, I left it to my agent to draw up a plan for me. I signed up my first policy without even knowing what I've got. All I knew was that I'm protected. And if I have any questions, I could just contact the agent (who was also my friend).

Come the second year, the agent did a review on my policy, got to know about the salary increment I've gotten, and before the month is up, I've gotten another policy - an investment-linked product. This was a popular product then. I remember my agent telling me people were literally getting into line to sign up for this product, and that getting this cover was absolutely the right thing to do. Similar to policy no. 1, I did not know what this policy covers.

Another year down the road, another review came. This time, I was advised to increase the coverage of policy no. 2. Needless to say, I put my signature on the necessary forms and started contributing more per month.

Now, seven years after getting my first insurance policy, I heard rumors that investment-linked products are being canceled by policy holders on a massive scale - word from the grapevine is that something is wrong with these products, the policy may shutdown after a certain period of time.

Upon hearing these rumors, I immediately contacted my agent. To my utter disappointment, things went downhill from here. My agent finally revealed his true colors - he was rude, and not helpful at all. I was told to contact customer support to get answers to my queries. Actually, the subsequent exchanges between myself and the agent over the next few days were quite dramatic - fit for the script of a television series. But, I won't put the details here.

I was convinced that something is wrong. Therefore, I got my policies reviewed by several insurance agents from other insurance companies. It was then that I discovered no insurance agent would tell me the full story. No one would paint me the full picture. I have to take bits and pieces revealed by the agents and piece them all together myself. In the end, I knew all I needed to know, and more. The concept of insurance is no longer a mystery to me. I am familiar with the various insurance products available in the market. I've turned into every insurance agents' nightmare.

Looking at my policy, I've discovered that I've contributed quite a substantial amount as commission fees to my agent. It would seems every top-up I've made contributed to his well being (each top-up would contribute to him for six years).

I've also determined that the possibility of my investment-linked policy shutting down in the future does indeed carry merit. As it would be illogical for me to cancel it, I've devised a method to monitor the status of this policy. It would alert me if the policy is in danger of running out of funds.

In the end, I'm glad I've discovered and corrected my shortcomings as an insurance policy holder. I'm aware of my personal insurance requirement, and I could determine the insurance needs of my love ones. In matters of insurance, I would not be led by the nose any longer. Also, I've changed insurance agent. However, the agent's role is very limited now - he is only my specialized courier.

Peace of mind? Now, it is ...........

I'm so happy, I am about to explode..

X-trail thinks I am going nuts, my office people came telling me that I look extra cheerful today. My emails to clients are extra sweet today. I am more lenient to irritating people around me too.

A big thank you to all my uncles and aunties who helped me in getting "things" done. Most of all, my darling who's ever so supportive when I am almost directionless....

Let's pop the champagne!

A Nutcracking evening to remember....

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y....I found myself that lil' black dress woot! So, lets go baybee!!

Minutes before leaving my house, my leng chai dressed up so smartly in navy blue and coat told me that he forgot to bring his belt... So, we need to stop by at his place to get it before heading down to KLCC. Thank goodness for having a man with good sense of direction..but his in-build "compass" is only effective on the ROAD. He'll lost his way inside a tiny supermarket! *eyes rolling* Guess that's what he meant by a 50-50 efford in a relationship huh?...he'll take care of the road, I'll take care of the mall..MUAHAHA

Managed to find a parking space for his "wife" and on time for a lovely meal before the performance starts at 8:30pm. I should've brought my cameraphone along to take some nice photo of the food we had but unfortunately, my dinner bag is too small to even fit a coin purse!

The orchestra ends at 10:30pm and guess what? Took us about 20mins of walking to locate his car... Are we aging gracefully or what?!?

Anyway, he managed to beat the jam with all his "shortcuts" again and return home for our next DVD session after a quick shower...

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An article taken from Wikipedia

In Western countries, this ballet has become among the most popular ballets performed, primarily around Christmas time.

The Nutcracker

Act I
The curtain opens to see the Stahlbaums' house, where a Christmas party is being held. Clara, her little brother Fritz, and their mother and father are celebrating with friends and family, when the mysterious godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, enters. He quickly produces a large bag of gifts for all the children. All are very happy, except for Clara, she being the only one who does not receive a gift. Herr Drosselmeyer then produces three life-sized dolls, who each take a turn to dance. When the dances are done, Clara approaches Herr Drosselmeyer asking for a gift. Drosselmeyer is out of presents. Clara runs to her mother in a fit of tears.
Drosselmeyer conjures up a Nutcracker. Clara is happy, but her brother Fritz is jealous, and breaks the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer chases him off and mends the toy.
The party ends and the Stahlbaum family go to bed, but Clara is concerned about her Nutcracker, and comes out to the Christmas tree to see it. She falls asleep with the Nutcracker in her arms. When the clock strikes midnight, Clara hears the sound of mice. She wakes up and tries to run away, but the mice stop her. Or perhaps Clara is still in a dream: she shrinks down to the size of the other toys. The Nutcracker and his band of soldiers rise to defend Clara, and the Mouse King leads his mice into battle.
A conflict ensues, and when Clara helps the Nutcracker by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King, the Nutcracker seizes his opportunity and stabs him. The mouse dies. The mice retreat, taking their dead leader with them. The Nutcracker turns into a prince. (In Hoffmann's original story, and in the Royal ballets 1985 and 2001 versions, the Prince is really Drosselmeyer's nephew, who had been turned into a Nutcracker by the Mouse King, and all the events following the Christmas party have been arranged by Drosselmeyer in order to break the spell.)
Clara and the prince travel to the a world where dancing Snow Flakes greet them and fairies and queens dance.

Act II
The Sugar Plum Fairy and the people of the Land of Sweets dance for Clara and the Prince in the dances of Dew Drop Fairy, the Spanish dancers, the Chinese dancers, the Arabian dancers, the Russian dancers, Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles, the Marzipan dancers, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Waltz of the Flowers. After the festivities, Clara wakes up under the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker toy in her arms. (In Balanchine's version, however, she does not appear to wake up at all; she rides off with the Nutcracker/Prince on a Santa Claus-like flying sleigh, complete with reindeer. This gives the impression that the "dream" actually happens in reality, as in Hoffmann's original story. The 1985 Royal Ballet version seems to imply the same thing, since at the end, Drosselmeyer's nephew, who had really been transformed into a nutcracker, reappears in human form at Drosselmeyer's toyshop.)

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Recipe to a great birthday Get-together @ the office

Step 1

A very delicious greentea cake from RT Pastry House from SS15 Subang

Step 2

Finger licking goodies (with compliments from the birthday gal)

Step 3

And a group of hungry...erm I mean... smiley colleagues... :0

"Emi, May your heart be filled with cheer, That will last, through the coming year"