heritage

A Heritage Walking Tour of Silay City Heritage Zone

Posted on October 31, 2022

The gateway to Negros Occidental by plane, Silay City is one of the best-preserved heritage towns in the Philippines. More than 30 ancestral homes, built between the late 19th century and early 20th century, have been officially recognized as Heritage Houses by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) within the Silay City Heritage Zone. These opulent mansions of various architectural styles were erected by wealthy landowning families who reaped from the economic boom of the cane sugar industryRead More→

Melaka, Malaysia: Indian Peranakan Heritage of Kampung Chetti (Chitty Village) [SP]

Posted on January 15, 2014

Most travelers to Melaka or Penang may be familiar with the predominant Baba Nyonya or Peranakan culture of the Straits Chinese who flourished in the trading settlements. However, the heritage city is also home to other creole cultures, which evolved from the intermarriage of foreign traders with the native people some 500 years ago.Besides the Kristangs or Eurasian Malays of the Portuguese Settlement, there are the Chetti (also spelled Chitty) people, who are descendants of Indians traders from Tamil Nadu,Read More→

Melaka, Malaysia: Kristang Heritage of the Portuguese Settlement [SP]

Posted on January 9, 2014

The Portuguese Heritage Museum at the Portuguese Settlement showcases Kristang history and traditions The Portuguese Settlement – sometimes called Mini Lisbon – is a Kristang community in Ujong Pasir, five kilometers from the city of Melaka, Malaysia. The Kristang creole people arose in Melaka between the 16th and 17th centuries when the city was a port and base of Portuguese colonial rule. Portuguese men married native Malay women. The Kristang stock was later enriched by intermarriages with Dutch, British, Chinese andRead More→

Perak, Malaysia: Heritage Tour of Ipoh [SP]

Posted on December 3, 2013

Ipoh – a city where heritage meets the hills. View from Perak Tong Cave Temple. The capital of the state of Perak, Ipoh – just two and half hours by bus north of Kuala Lumpur – started out as a small town at the highest navigable point of the Kinta River in the 1820s. It later grew in prominence at the turn of the 20th century when more British tin-mining companies were set up near the city, surpassing the popularRead More→

Perak, Malaysia: Kellie’s Castle & Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge [SP]

Posted on November 28, 2013

Built in 1915, Kellie’s Castle is an unfinished mansion in Perak, Malaysia believed to be haunted The state of Perak, few hours north of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, is best known for its historic landmarks and tin mining heritage set amidst dramatic limestone hills. One such example is Kellie’s Castle (sometimes also called Kellie’s Folly), located near Batu Gajah and about 20 minutes’ drive from the city of Ipoh. The unfinished, ruined Moorish Revival-style mansion, was built by a ScottishRead More→