The first talk of the Tales of Asia series journeys to Malacca and Manila, two of the oldest port cities in Southeast Asia, established by the Portuguese and Spanish respectively in the 1500s.

The cities were mediaeval fortress towns complete with cathedrals, municipal buildings, and of course, bastions and a fortress WALL.  In this walk, we scale these walls and bastions and explore what remains of them in today’s Malacca and Manila.

We also dive deep into the streets of the city in the mediaeval era and today, to learn more about the mixed, or “mestizo” cultures and architectural styles that evolved from the intersection between Iberian and indigenous peoples and climates, including Kristang (Portuguese Eurasian) culture and cuisine, the bahay na bato in Intramuros, Manila and mestizo culture and interior design.