For most of the 16th century, the Portuguese had a "No Trespassing" sign over the sea routes to Asia. They kept their navigation charts—the roteiros —under literal lock and key. But every secret has a price. Enter Jan Huygen van Linschoten , a Dutch spy working as a secretary to the Portuguese Archbishop in Goa. He spent years copying top-secret Portuguese sailing directions and trade secrets. In 1595, he published them in a blockbuster book, the Reys-gheschrift vande navigat

I had visited all the countries of Southeast Asia until October 2025, when Timor-Leste became the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). I therefore took advantage of my son’s Easter school holiday to visit the former Portuguese territory, so here’s a bit of a photo essay. We arrived in the capital Dili, a town of 300,000 inhabitants. The Portuguese influence was immediately apparent: the language of Camões is one of two official languages, the oth

Although the Portuguese have been present in Asia for 500 years, the number of Portuguese restaurants in the region is relatively limited (compared with, say, Italian restaurants). Goa and Malacca have the longest history, and there are indeed many Portuguese-inflected eateries in both cities. However, the vast majority are Luso-Asian, serving up delicious dishes that represent their respective hybrid cultural influences. Macau is clearly the top choice for high-end Portugue

Illustration from https://www.xn--luisdecames-nfb.pt/ Over 2024 and 2025, Portugal celebrated the half-millenium since the birth of the country's national poet, Luís de Camões. A Rede Camões na Ásia & África ( the Camões Network in Asia and Africa), of which this blog is a proud sponsor, just held the Third Congress in Goa on March 12. The Network also launched a call for submissions for the second edition of the Revista de Estudos Camonianos (Journal of Camonian Studies)

The 36th Singapore International Film Festival was held from November 26 to December 7, 2025. Although the SIFF is known for its focus on Asian filmmakers and promotion of Southeast Asian films, it also includes in its programming notable independent and non-commercial films from around the world. On December 6, with the support of the Portuguese Embassy in Singapore , the SIFF presented the Portuguese movie O riso e a faca , known in English as "I Only Rest in the Storm", b

One of the top Portuguese guitar players, Pedro Jóia , will be performing in Singapore on December 12. The 55-year-old has performed in Asia before, in mainland China and Macau. In Singapore, Jóia will offer a Christmas concert at the National Library Building . It's free admission, so get there well before the 6:30pm start! Many thanks to the Embassy of Portugal in Singapore as well as the Instituto Camões for organizing the event with the support of Singapore's National Lib

The Philippines was named in 1542 after King Philip II of Spain (who also became King Philip I of Portugal in 1580). According to the Treaty of Tordesillas that preposterously divided the newly discovered lands beyond Europe between Spain and Portugal, this archipelago of over 7,000 islands fell under Spanish claims. However, the first European expedition to reach the Philippines, while sent by the Spanish crown, was led by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães, known t

The 37th World Expo is currently being held in Osaka (大阪), Japan, from April to October this year. This is only the fourth World Expo to...

Map of Southeast Asia in Fernão Vaz Dourado's Atlas Universal of 1571 The Portuguese shocked maritime Southeast Asia when Afonso de...

This is the third and final post on José d'Almeida, a Portuguese pioneer of Singapore. Part 1 describes d'Almeida's life prior to...

200 years ago, in 1825, José d'Almeida Carvalho e Silva arrived as a 41-year-old Portuguese physician in Singapore, then only into its...

I’ve written about how Singapore, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence from the United Kingdom this year, could...

The 23rd floor reception of the Club Lusitano in Hong Kong The Portuguese presence in East Asia is firmly anchored in Macau, which Ming...

A golden barrel cactus, known in Japanese as キンシャチ (kinshachi) or 金鯱 in kanji As the first Europeans to make contact with the Japanese,...

As the first Europeans that the Japanese encountered, the Portuguese made a deep cultural impact on the Land of the Rising Sun. Many...

福砂屋 (Fukusaya) logo incorporates a Portuguese ship. I wrote last year about the delicious Japanese castella cake  (カステラ) that originated...

I recently made a few trips to India, and drinking chai (tea) was definitely a highlight. [Here's an interesting post about the...

It is a common lament among Portuguese people living in Asia why there aren't more direct flights to Portugal. Currently one can fly...

Today, August 9, is Singapore's National Day. The country is celebrating 59 years of independence a few days before the close of the 2024...

The Emmy Awards nominations caused a stir last month, July 2024, when Shōgun (将軍) topped the list with 25 nominations including best...