Luís de Camões in Asia
Luís Vaz de Camões, the 16th century poet, is such a towering figure in Portuguese literature that the Portuguese language itself is...
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Spencer Low
- Nov 5
- 2 min
How the Portuguese introduced pumpkin to Japan
It was Halloween recently and pumpkins were suddenly all over the place. My son's friend Kenji, whose father is Japanese, came for a...
262 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Oct 17
- 2 min
More Portuguese traces in Indonesia
I'm on a family vacation this week in Java, Indonesia, and have been looking for more signs of Portuguese influence to build on my...
1,031 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Sep 10
- 3 min
The Portuguese History of Mumbai
With the G20 wrapping up today in New Delhi, the world's eyes are on India. While the Portuguese history of Goa, India's smallest and...
1,718 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Aug 9
- 2 min
St. Francis Xavier and the Portuguese presence in Asia
The Catholic Church's World Youth Day that just ended on August 6 saw thousands of pilgrims from all across Asia travel to Portugal. One...
1,825 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Jul 14
- 3 min
Formosa: Taiwan's other name from the Portuguese
My family and I are back in Toronto for a home visit to see friends and family, and folks here are still talking about the recent mayoral...
226 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Jul 2
- 3 min
The Portuguese role in the history of Bali
Mystical Bali is often called the Island of the Gods, apparently because of the abundance of temples there. As I was reminded on a recent...
379 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- May 20
- 3 min
Alphonso, the Indian "King of Mangos" with a Portuguese name
The mango is considered the 'king of fruits' in India and features prominently in its ancient culture, from religion to art to poetry....
6,077 views1 comment
Spencer Low
- Mar 26
- 5 min
How Portuguese influence in Sri Lanka outlasted that of the Dutch
Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon, has been known to much of the rest of the Old World for over 2000 years, from the Greeks, Romans,...
7,756 views2 comments
Spencer Low
- Mar 12
- 5 min
16th century Dutch spy who exposed Portuguese secrets
My last post on the 15th century Portuguese merchant-spy Pêro da Covilhã prompted quite a bit of debate among some readers around how the...
4,673 views3 comments
Spencer Low
- Mar 5
- 3 min
Pêro da Covilhã: 15th century merchant-spy
In the history of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries, the focus has been on the maritime exploits of the day, with Bartolomeu Dias sailing...
2,395 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Feb 18
- 3 min
The Portuguese Mission and the History of the Catholic Church in Singapore
When the Portuguese took control of Malacca in 1511, the Sultan of Malacca escaped south and founded the Johor Sultanate, which included...
4,333 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Jan 29
- 3 min
Japan & Portugal: 480 years of friendship
This year, 2023, will see Japan and Portugal celebrate 480 years of relations between the two maritime countries at opposite ends of the...
3,815 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Dec 31, 2022
- 2 min
Living traces of Portuguese influence in the Celebes, Indonesia
I just spent a week holidaying with my family in Manado on the northern tip of Sulawesi, the fourth largest island in Indonesia. Aside...
1,209 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Dec 10, 2022
- 2 min
Interview with Portuguese news agency Lusa on this blog
Many thanks to João Pimenta, the Beijing bureau chief of the Portuguese news agency Lusa for reaching out to me. He noticed this blog...
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Spencer Low
- Dec 4, 2022
- 2 min
Asian influence on Portuguese culture (Part II)
My last post on Asian influences on Portuguese food sparked off lots of comments, showing how viscerally important food culture can be to...
1,116 views4 comments
Spencer Low
- Nov 20, 2022
- 3 min
Asian influence on Portuguese culture – Food
I recently had an interesting conversation with João Pimenta, bureau chief for the Portuguese Lusa News Agency who's lived in China for...
3,233 views1 comment
Spencer Low
- Oct 30, 2022
- 3 min
The Portuguese impact on Kerala
Kerala, a state on the southwest coast of India, is perhaps not particularly well-known in the rest of the world. I first heard about it...
3,387 views1 comment
Spencer Low
- Oct 23, 2022
- 2 min
How Standard Chinese became known as Mandarin thanks to the Portuguese
In an earlier post, I explained how China became known as China thanks to the Portuguese: https://www.portuguese.asia/post/how-china-beca...
1,884 views0 comments
Spencer Low
- Oct 16, 2022
- 2 min
The little-known Portuguese influence on Vietnam
When most people think of Vietnam in a historical context, the Vietnamese war and the American role come to mind, or perhaps the French...
3,972 views0 comments
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