The month of June went faster then normal, or is it because I am too busy or getting old? I am not sure about that. I am sure June was busy. It was in fact so busy I didn't find even the time to visit Pangkor in weeks now. Thus I will go next week.

One of the reasons it was busy had to do with my short visit to Thailand and some developments in our real estate activities in Penang, later more about this.

So, what do I have to tell you this time?

What do we have in this newsletter? :

• Taiping in the Merdeka days
• Last minute bookings for diving with Imp
• Real estate in Penang
• Advertisement: Timeshare
• ... and become a turtle ambassador
• Love what you do and the money will follow
• China Family Adventures
• The Pulau Pangkor.com New Look and Feel
• 123Greetings.com

PS Let me know what you like and what you don't like. All comments are welcome. Click here to write your comment:

• http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/contact-us.html

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• http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Pulau-Pangkor-blog-1.html

and

• http://pangkor.wordpress.com (Including info about my other websites and much more)

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Taiping in the Merdeka days
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A few weeks ago I got an email from Mr. Brian Paton from the UK. He asked me about the military camp in Taiping: the Kem Tentera Darat, Kamunting, Taiping. Mr. Paton was interested if the camp still existed because he was stationed here in the 1950's. So I told him what I knew. I also asked him if he had some photos of those days. After all, we ARE interested in the history of Pangkor and the surrounding, including Taiping.

Mr. Paton gave me series of photos of Taiping, the camp and camp life (including some wedding photos) to be published on the Pulau Pangkor website.

There were many great photos showing a tip of what life in those days looked like. Mr. Paton gave his comments on those photos and we have put them on two separate pages:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/taiping-1957.html

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/taiping-photos.html

One of the amazing things was that the camp had not changed much in look, as far as Mr. Paton could tell. Taiping city center and the famous Lake Gardens seemed not to have changed too. Have a look yourself and tell us what you think!

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Last minute bookings for diving with Imp
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Imp told us he has still some space for his diving adventures. Book now and go out with Imp to some almost unknown dive spots.

We have been able to set up a connection with a divemaster Imran Ahmad, also known as Imp. He has excellent tours in East Malaysia and Indonesia available. Plus, he is an extraordinary photographer. We are happy he allowed us to use some of his photos. Check it out:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/diving-in-komodo.html

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/diving-in-raja-ampat.html

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Real estate and property in Penang
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Penang is for years a major tourist destination in Malaysia. It's not for nothing. Batu Ferringhi beach is almost as famous as Khao San Road in Bangkok (not necessarily better or worse though). Georgetown, the city center of Penang island has plenty of ttractions for all kinds of visitors. I come regularly in Penang and every time I find other spots I have not seen or did not even know about.

I have to admit, to my shame probably that when I first came to Malaysia I skipped Penang, that was 1991. It took about 12 years or so before I would visit the island, mostly because I didn't want to visit places "everybody would go to". I should have known better. Penang has it, but... what does Penang actually have then?

Well, Malaysia, as a Muslim country has a unique blend of Muslim, Chinese and Indian culture but this comes in Penang to an extend that is not to be found in any other part of Malaysia. In architecture the Malays, Chinese and Indians have all their particular style of building. There were 5 main Chinese clans who all build some very beautiful temples which are all over Penang to visit.

The Indians offer in usually January or February (depending on the lunar calendar) one of the spectacular festivals: Thaipusam ...

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/thaipusam-2008-photos.html

while the Chinese have their Nine Emperor Gods Festival

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/nine-emperor-gods.html which is a major event in especially Penang with its large Chinese population.

Thus, Penang is a popular choice for especially expats to live. The question is then, where would you want to live? We have collected some good information together with my own agent Nazlina and our real estate agent in Penang Mr. Yeoh. There is a lot more to come but it all starts here:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/retire-in-penang.html

This page overviews the possibilities in Penang but we from Pulau Pangkor went much further. We investigated more specific locations. Some we didn't like much, so we don't mention them, but others... ahhhhh....

How about "The Cove"?

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/tanjung-bungah.html

Or the secluded villas of Batu Uban, we visited the show unit and I "wouldn't mind" to live here....

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/real-estate-penang.html

Gurney Drive in the heart of Georgtown has plenty of attractions and with the Gurney Paragon a 5 star accommodation opportunity with views you can only dream of.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/gurney-paragon.html

And in case you would want to create your OWN real estate website, follow the instructions on this page:

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

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Become a turtle ambassador!
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While I was rewriting my turtles in Malaysia page, I was contacted by a lady from wildasia.net. She told me about a turtles conservation project by the Turtle Research and Rehabilitation Group, formerly known as Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) from the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. They have set up a project which deserves attention.

The motto: “Say NO to turtle and terrapin eggs” is important in a country where you still find turtle and tortoise eggs and animals at some local markets. People are willing to pay as much as a US dollar for ONE eggs. I am not joking, these kinds of practice are still going on. Many people apparently think it doesn't really matter to eat one eggs.

However, the mortality of the offspring of one turtle is about 98% in the first year. We NEED to help them to survive our own greed. Become an ambassador and make people aware of this sort of crazy practice. Here's how YOU can help:

Earlier this week my contact, Eileen at Wildasia.net, told me that the Leatherback turtle is on its way back into Malaysia! The work of Wildasia.net and many other organisations to create awareness about turtles seems to pay off! Congrats!

http://news.smh.com.au/world/rare-leatherback-turtles-return-to-malaysia-20080629-2yqu.html

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Love what you do and the money will follow
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I read in the legendary Action Guide of Sitesell. "Love what you do and the money will follow".

How's that possible? Suppose you crazy about photography and suppose you like to earn some money with it but you're not a professional. Can you make a living with it? Of course you can. Or do you want it crazier? My friend Corinne in Holland stands at the point of making her own chocolate business including selling all kinds of specialties. No, I don't have all the details ..... though Corinne could use SBI too for hard goods:

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

YET! But what it does show is that you CAN make a living in what you love to do. And if you decide to create a website about that subject, nothing comes easier and better then Sitesell. I would be able to give you plenty of examples but the only example I would like to give is ...

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

... your favorite website about a little island in Malaysia, a website that generates money to give me a decent life.

Sorry? I didn't hear you? You want more examples? Pulau Pangkor.com is not enough? Hmm... OK, here's some more proof...

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

Making money on the net is not easy, getting high rankings in Search Engines depend a lot on the choice of keywords. But what keyword to choose, or even more important, what subject for your website is good and what is less? SearchIt is a not so small but very FREE tool to sort out that problem,

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

Search It! is the only ecommerce-related search tool that you will ever need so why would you want Sitesell further then? Because it is cheaper, yes, MUCH cheaper and MUCH better then any other way to build your business online. Uh? How about getting a free domain name? Or a cheap domain name through GoDaddy? Have you thought about it? Building a business is more then just a domain name, think of server space and traffic limits and web submission and ... and.... and.... the list is endless.

I don't have those limits, NONE. I can ad as many photos as I want, create as many pages as I want, generate as much traffic as I can. And every time I create a page, Sitesell distributes it to Search Engines, blogs, RSS feeders etc. And that is only the top of the iceberg. Need more? Here's the concept worked out in detail:

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

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China Family Adventures
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One of the things I was very busy with was to sort out an email I received from Miriam. Miriam is born from Chinese parents and because of that connection she decided to visit China with her family for holidays. To China with family? With little children? Possible? Are you crazy? Of course not! China is a great country to travel with children, even though it does not have the name to be a travel destination for the whole family.

In her writings on her website Miriam shows very clear how much fun traveling with the whole family is in this huge country. The website is very well written and contains a wealth of inside information of major and not so major tourist spots. Highly recommended.

http://www.china-family-adventure.com/

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The Pulau Pangkor.com New Look and Feel
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You must have recognized, the Pangkor website has a new layout. We are still working on some details but I am happy that the bulk of the work is done. However, if you think we are finished, think again, we have much more content for you already at the shelf here. Now we need the time to write it proper down. In the next months you will see an extension of the website but we'll keep you informed about that too. Meanwhile, if you have comments, suggestions or simply want to say hello, feel free to reply this newsletter or use our contact form:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/contact-us.html

We are always happy to hear from you!

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123Greetings.com
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123greetings.com is your no.1 choice for sending online e-cards. 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 e-cards 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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