Lisbon, PORTUGAL

When I read that 90% of Portugal citizens are Roman Catholics, my first reaction was, "Wow! There must be alot of churches then, and Christmas must be very beautiful there. " I was not disappointed at all...

My exposure of Portugal was from the History textbooks from Standards 4 to 6 and Forms 1 to 5. I only knew that Portuguese took over Melaka in the 1500s I think. So, I expected to see the likes of A'Famosa or the red post office building.

Above is the landmark of Lisbon called the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries). It celebrates the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries. When I looked at the human sculptures, I thought to myself, "One of these guys here must have been to Melaka and brought home a few packets of gula melaka to the king. Or maybe he brought home a few sags of Malaysian rambutans to honour the queen." I guess I was just being silly to the point of even thinking that they "tah pao" two packets of UKM Nasi Lemak and eat in the ship. Malaysia is still my "tanah air" no matter what, yah I still miss home alot wherever I go.


This chic here caught my attention. With an excruciatingly low temperature of 5 deg C, FHM paid them to dress in summer style and pose for photos. It's the FHM Traffic Girls who goes on to promote safe driving to the people..as if.

And as usual...

Above is Restauradores. The Obelisk and the sculpture commemorates the 1640 restoration of Portugal's Independence from Spain. The hostel that we stayed was located here, very strategically located.

This is Rossio, just a stone's throw from Restauradores, the centre of Lisbon.

Aerial view of Lisbon, taken from the St George Castle (Castelo de Sao Jorge)

The high wall in St George Castle. The size of the wall dwarfs the woman seated in the middle.


Not until I came here that I realised many of our Malay words were borrowed from Portugal. Here, it's Igreja, Malay is Gereja. Then, Limao and Limau. Borsa and Bursa. Coming here is a phase of discovery for me. These are just the few words that I discovered in my short stay here. Am sure there are many more words out there.

Above is Commerce Square (Praca do Comercio). This is one of the most majestic squares and was once the main maritime entrance to Lisbon. You can still see the old marble steps leading up to Commerce Square from the River Tagus. The arch is decorated with statues of historical personalities, like Vasco da Gama (Portuguese sailor).

A rare opportunity to witness a beautiful sunset over River Tagus. Pictures taken in Belem about 6km away from city center.

Above is the Jeronimos Monastery located in Belem. It replaced the church of Saint Mary of Belém where monks of the Christ Order gave assistance to sailors passing through.

Belem is also the birth place of the Portuguese tart that we have been eating in Malaysia. This is THE place; after all the hype about the tart and with places claiming to have the best egg tarts from Macau to Singapore to Malaysia. For a taste of the original recipe, we made our way to Pasteis de Belem, the original Portuguese shop founded in 1837. The pastry crust is absolutely different from the ones I ate in Malaysia. Imagine eating a crispy roti canai, that's exactly how the crust felt at first bite. The custard/egg part is soft and hot. The combination makes it go very well with a cup of coffee, which was how the people here ate the tart. We followed suit.

Our dinner in Rossio; rice with pork meat, tripe and beans and the other is the roast cod fish with potatos and salad. Didn't know Portuguese ate rice too, like Spanish.

And....the Christmas decorations are just fantastic and magnificent! Lisbon spent alot on the deco and generously pours out the yuletide atmosphere onto the streets with carols and performances in public areas. Recommended....2 thumbs up!