Macau – Taipa Village – Living for Experiences

After exploring the Rua do Cunha or Cunha Street, we continued our exploration of Taipa Village not knowing what to expect.

Along the way up the little hill, we saw many colonial houses painted in hues of blue and green.

Our Lady of Carmo Church 嘉模聖母堂

As we walked uphill, we saw a church in light yellow. It is Our Lady of Carmo Church, a Catholic Church that stands on a hill overlooking the Taipa Village.

Our Lady of Carmo Church is a three-storey house, wrapped up in light yellow stucco walls, that was completed in 1885 becoming the sole Catholic Church in Taipa at that time. As the Church is located opposite the official department for marriage registration, the church is an ideal backdrop for wedding photo shoots.

Walking up the hill to Our Lady of Carmo Church

Macau Our Lady of Carmo Church — Our Lady of Carmo Church

The Cross standing in front of Our Lady of Carmo Church

Carmo Garden 嘉模花園 (氹仔市政花園)

We continued walking and reached the Carmo Garden or Taipa Municipal Garden which was built in 1955 on Taipa Island. The garden is considered as one of the eight iconic attractions in Macau representing Carmo area with a rich historical value under the recognition of the Macau government.

A cute little girl striking a pose for her dad to take a picture of her in the Carmo Garden

The Carmo Garden also features the statue of the Portuguese poet Carmoes, a small fountain and peripheral shade.

In the background up the steps is the statue of Portuguese Poet Carmoes

Macau Old Village — That’s me walking down the steps with Our Lady of Carmo Church and the Galaxy in the background

Taipa Village — View of the Taipa Houses Museum from the top

Taipa Houses Museum 龍環葡韻住宅式博物館

Taipa Houses were built in 1921 and once served as the residences of senior civil servants which represents the charming Portuguese architectural style in Taipa. Considered as one of the cultural relics and heritages of the Island, the Taipa Houses-Museum comprises five distinctive green houses featuring the “Macanese Living Museum”, the “Exhibitions Gallery”, the “Creative Casa”, the “Nostalgic House” and the “House for Reception”.

Below is a collage of photos of the Macanese Living Museum.

As it was a Sunday, the area was crowded with people, a couple having their wedding photo shoot, another lady at one of the Taipa House being photographed and a young man with a camera crew doing some documentary recording on Taipa and Macau perhaps for his YouTube channel.

Separating the Taipa Houses and the Cotai strip is a swamp.

Leaving the Taipa Houses, we continued our little exploration and stepped into another Garden – Dra. Laurinda M. Esparteiro Garden.

Back to The Venetian

The Taipa Village is in a world by itself, it has an old world peaceful and lovely charm that is a big contrast to the glitzy materialistic world of Cotai. Taking the travellator that brought us back to Galaxy and crossing the bridge, we reached the West Entrance of The Venetians. Back to the glitzy materialistic world of Cotai.

After a day of walking and sightseeing, it was time to eat again. Yeah! We had our dinner back at The Venetian. Once again had roasted goose, bbq pork, dumpling soup and noodles for dinner.

Dinner at Old Neptune at The Venetian, Macau

After dinner, we did some window shopping and watched the gondolier serenading to her clients who were having a lovely ride on the Grand Canals.

Before going back to our hotel room, we book our ferry tickets to Kowloon, Hong Kong.

We had a lovely day exploring Taipa and after this trip, I have a different view of Macau. Macau is not just a sin city but also a city with rich culture and history and a lovely old world charm.

This trip was made in Spring 2017.