Welcome to a last edition of the Newsletter in 2005. I would like to give a warm welcome to our new readers. In 2006 I will continue to bring you updates and news plus additional info about Pangkor and the surrounding areas.

This issue of the is the last issue of this year. It was quite a busy year with great events. Examples are the Raja Muda International Regatta race visiting Pangkor, the opening of the long awaited dive shop of Sembilan Divers and this website that brings you all you need to know about Pangkor and the surrounding areas.

In this edition you will find again some typical Malaysian recipes. You can have a look at more recipes page for this edition recipes or continue reading this newsletter. You may find it more useful to get the recipes e-book which contains the same recipes as the mentioned page. Download your e-book copy here With every issue of the there will be an update of both e-book and more recipes page available.

What do we have in this edition of the ?

• Boney M in Ipoh
• Raja Muda International Regatta
• New at Pulau Pangkor.com
• Personalized children books
• Sembilan Divers
• New Pangkor FEED and Blog
• Chikigal blog in Sitiawan/Seri Manjung
• Recipes

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

or subscribe to my feed:

What's an RSS feed?

From my home in Sitiawan, I wish you a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year 2006.

Peter van der Lans
Sitiawan Malaysia

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Boney M in Ipoh

Still alive and kicking, Boney M comes to Ipoh for a New Years party. Last year I heard people complaining nothing was happening in and around Pangkor/Lumut. Well, Ipoh Events has listened. Get your ticket and have fun with Boney M live in Ipoh.

More details here

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Raja Muda International Regatta

I was in the opportunity to see the start from open water. It was a magnificent sight. Did you miss it? No problem, have a look here:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Raja-Muda-International-Regatta.html 

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NEW at Pulau Pangkor.com

There are not many pages added this month to the website. One is already mentioned: the http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Raja-Muda-International-Regatta.html 

Chinese wedding in Kuala Kurau

I know, I know, Kualu Kurau is not too close to Pangkor, in fact, about 130 km north. However, I was invited for this wedding and didn't want to hold this from you since it was a great event and showed me how in Malaysia Indian, Malay and Chinese not just live next to each other, they also celebrate their important days together.

Mr. Ong Kok Lam married Miss Goh Huey Ching on the 27th November 2005. And boy, it was quite a party. Those of you who ever attended a Chinese wedding may have an idea what a real Chinese (in this case Taoist) wedding looks like. But few may have attended a wedding with more then 1400 guest. You have your chance to have a look at Mr. and Mrs. Ong Kok Lam's happiest day in their life.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/chinese-wedding.html

Optical shop E&E Sitiawan and Seri Manjung

Although not exactly and complete new page, I didn't want to hold this back from you. All your optical problems will be solved by Mr. Roger Ling and his staff. Not just spectacles (all major brand names available) but also soft- and hard lenses are available.

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Shopping-in-Sitiawan-and-Manjung.html

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Personalized Children Books

"MyOwnBook" is a little publishing company in Kuala Lumpur who had the idea to personalize children books. Make your child the hero of the book and let him or her dream away. Read more on the book page:

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

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Sembilan Divers

I wrote in my pages I have never been diving. That now has changed. Your host at Pulau-Pangkor.com has just finished his first diving course with Sembilan Divers. And, wow, what a great experience. Claudia has a new instructor: Hari. He guided me through the last few days. We went out for the first 4 dives around Sembilan Islands. It was a 40 minutes boat ride.

I did my dives and I loved it. But something surprised me, Hari told me after the fourth and last dive we saw specific soft corals even in east Malaysia never seen.

Paul, a British dive instructor who used to be based in Thailand told me Pulau Sembilan is as good as any other one. Maybe the visibility is less then the east coast, but the variety is great.

If you are interested in joining, you are more then welcome. (in fact we may meet each other because my little diving experience made me hungry for more!)

If Pangkor is your holiday destination, you have found one of the best diving spots on the west coast of Malaysia.

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New Pulau Pangkor Feed and blog

No idea what I am talking about? Read here more about what a FEED is: http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/help/rss.html

I publish here from day to day (actually if there is something to publish) news about Pangkor and updates of the website pages. As you already knew, I had some feeds running but I had to move them. So if you have subscribed for the Feed earlier, please remove the feed and replace it with:

http://www.pulau-pangkor.com/Pulau-Pangkor.xml

or right click on the orange buttons or

add the feed to either My MSN or My Yahoo:
  , or

The Pangkor blog is now available through the website in the navigation bar. If you want to have a quick look now:

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

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People blog in Sitiawan/Seri Manjung

Nothing can be further from the truth. I found a great computer store here ( read more about Ming's store here). But that's just computers, I hear you thinking. How about people using them? In that case I give you a fine example of a lady using a blog, living in Seri Manjung.

http://www.chiwigal.blogspot.com/

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Recipes

The last had some excellent recipes. Did you miss them? Click on MORE RECIPES page to see them again. Or download your e-book copy here. You will find also two new recipes of dishes you will able to get at Pangkor island.

See the recipes I have added in the MORE RECIPES page or simply download the latest version of the recipe e-book copy here

This edition of the contains some special nasi recipes. When you visit Malaysia (and thus Pangkor), these are very easy to find:

Nasi Dagang

Ingredients

• 300g nasi dagang rice or substitute with 200g
• good grade Siamese rice mixed with 100g glutinous rice
• 1 grated coconut to extract 3/4 cup thick coconut milk
• 3/4 cup thin coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds ( halba )
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced finely
• 3 shallots, sliced finely
• 2cm young ginger, sliced finely
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method: WASH rice well and soak for 5 to 6 hours. Drain well then steam rice for 20 to 25 minutes or until half-cooked. Stir in thin coconut milk and continue steaming for 15 minutes until rice is nearly cooked.

Combine thick coconut milk, shallots, garlic, ginger, fenugreek and salt. Stir into the cooked rice then steam once more for 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is properly cooked. Serve rice with Kari Ikan Tongkol .

Footnote : Nasi dagang is a special type of reddish brown glutinous rice. If it is not available, substitute with Siamese rice and glutinous rice mixture as per recipe.

Nasi Ulam

Ingredients:

• 600g cooked rice
• 75g shredded and grilled salted fish (meat only)
• 75g dried prawns
• 1 cup toasted and pounded grated coconut

Finely sliced ingredients:

• 1 stalk lemon grass
• 2 turmeric (kunyit) leaves
• 10 young kaduk leaves
• 6 kaffir lime leaves (daun limau purut)
• 2 stalks polygonum (daun kesom)
• 3 cekur leaves
• 2 stalks basil (selasih)
• 5 mint leaves (daun pudina)
• 1 wild ginger flower (bunga kantan)
• 5 shallots

Seasoning:

• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp sugar or to taste
• 1 cube ikan bilis stock granules
• 2-3 tbsp water

Method:

Steam overnight cooked rice until soft. Put rice in a large basin. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok; saute dried prawns until fragrant. Add in all the seasoning ingredients and mix well. Dish out and mix with the rice. Combine the rest of the sliced vegetables or 'ulam-ulam'. Toss well and serve. Footnote: All the 'ulam' ingredients are obtainable from the wet market.