As I live near Pangkor, I have great beaches nearby but what is far more important then a nice beach are the Malaysian people. Sometimes it seemed the Malaysian are always good humored. And no wonder with the excellent food and, yes, the weather conditions (though many Malaysian would love to spend the winter in real cold conditions! I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

This time in the :

• Pangkor Stories
• Bangkok: City of Angels
• Ramadan 2006
• Passion - Turn Your Knowledge Into Revenue
• Rambutan
• "I am from ... do I need a visa?"
• Traveling forums
• 123 Greetings.com
• Malaysian food: free e-book

You can read latest updates in my Blog:
http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Pulau-Pangkor-blog-1.html

Or, socialize it with:

Automatic Social Bookmarking

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Pangkor Stories

Did you enjoy Pangkor when you last visited it? Let me know! Quite a few people already wrote to me about their experiences at Pangkor island. Here's a selection of those stories:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/pangkor-stories.html

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Bangkok: City of Angels

Bangkok is also known as the "city of angels". Bangkok is indeed a magic city. There's so much to see, so much history to visit.

But Bangkok is big and busy. If you have short time, a good and reliable guide is necessary. http://lets-tour-bangkok.com/ has excellent information about Bangkok available. And they do tours in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. If you have limited time, this website is a great start to explore the beauty of Thailand.

http://lets-tour-bangkok.com/

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Ramadan 2006

Muslim all over the world will celebrate the annual month of fasting from 24 September until 23 October. It's one of the most important events on the Muslim calendar. From sunrise to sunset Muslims will fast. The consequence for non Muslims is that at day time less restaurants will be open. However, as the population in Malaysia also contains Chinese and Indians, you will not have to join the Muslims in fasting. But, be reserved and do not eat in open areas to offend the Muslims.

At night you will find many Pasar Malams (night markets) where Muslims sell special Ramadan dishes. It's an excellent time to visit Malaysia and explore the specialties in the Malaysian Muslim cuisine.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/pangkor-events-festivals.html

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Passion - Turn Your Knowledge Into Revenue

"Passion is no ordinary word", as Graham Parker sings! Last week I received an email of Harry. Harry asked me how it was possible that such a small island as Pangkor (he knows Pangkor as he has traveled here) "can have such an extensive website". Thanks Harry for the compliment.

The answer is quite simple. I love Pangkor and I love living in Malaysia. So why not write about it? Why not share my passion for Pangkor with you! (don't get me wrong, I have a few other passions too!)  That's where the idea of this website came from.

Writing a website is simple, but is it easy too? Even if you have no technical background, do not know html or have no idea how to use Frontpage or other web-designing programs, you are still able write a great website. But how? This page explains in detail what you have to do to turn your knowledge into revenue. It is the exact process I have followed to build the Pulau Pangkor website. And it works extremely well.

http://passion.sitesell.com/webselling64290.html

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Rambutan

This afternoon I was cycling around at Pangkor island. There, and on my way back home in Sitiawan I realized it was again Rambutan season. At many places I local vendors sell this incredible nice fruit. Especially on the mainland, just outside Lumut, there are many rambutan trees to see. They are now in full blossom with heavy hanging fruit. The season in Malaysia roughly is from March to July and late August to November.

For those who do not know the rambutan, a rambutan has the size of a egg , red coloured with green "hairs". The skin is leatherish but when you open the red (sometimes yellow) skin, you find white tasty flesh with a pit inside the flesh.

More about rambutan and other tropical fruits you can read here:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/tropical-fruits.html

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"I am from .... do I need a visa?

It's one of those questions that every once in a while comes up. It's hard to tell in general who needs a visa and who doesn't. Therefore, I wrote a page about the visa requirements. If you are thinking about visiting Malaysia, read this page and make sure you have the appropriate documents.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Malaysia-Visa.html

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Travel forums

Travel information can be old even when it's just written down. Books can be useful for background information but the information in a book is usually 4 to 6 months old when the book is published. Hotels, guesthouses, road conditions, political situations, all can change in such a time period. That is why travel-forums are so useful. (for the latest info about Pangkor you have of course the Pulau Pangkor website!)

There are several travel forums on the internet available. Lonely Planet is one of the most used travel books in the world. You can be in favor or against LP but on the internet website they offer an excellent travelers for travelers forum:

http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

However, there are other good travel-forums. Here's a selection:

www.travellerspoint.com
www.globosapiens.com
http://www.aardvarktravel.net/chat/

And for expats but also for travelers, the alloexpat forums are very useful, check the Malaysia section which is extensive for special Malaysian issues as language, housing, marriage, sports, shopping etc.:

http://www.alloexpat.com/malaysia_expat_forum/

And for the Dutch readers, there is an excellent forum in Dutch:

http://www.malaysiasite.nl/forum/

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123Greetings.com

123greetings.com is your no.1 choice for sending online ecards.

Or, if you want a weekly dose of fun and joy, you simply subscribe to the online email newsletters at 123Greetings.com ! This free weekly newsletter service is your one-stop fill for interesting updates on coming events, free ecards and exciting offers from our partners and sponsors. Just go get it and make your loved ones smile.

http://www.123greetings.com/newsletter/

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Malaysian food: Free e-book

The had last year in every issue some recipes of dishes you can find in and around Pangkor and in other areas in Malaysia. I have collected those recipes and put them together in a free e-book which, until now, was only available for the readers of the You may have missed the e-book last year. Here's your new chance. Have fun with the preparation of the recipes and enjoy your Malaysian meal.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/ebookrecipes

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