Top 5 Places in Taipa
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| For your convenience. |
However, I think that there are plenty of things to really appreciate about Macau; not necessarily amazing and exciting things, but places where you can just live and be. These are places that you can spend some leisure time and get comfortable in the foreign city you have been a resident of for the last couple of months. For example, I feel that there are plenty of places like that in Taipa. I really like Taipa, in fact, I think I might enjoy it a little more than the Macau peninsula. It's a very nice area with a lot of charm to it, so I figured that I would compile a list of places that I think I'll frequent before the end of my study abroad. So, in no particular order, I give you my Top 5 Places in Taipa!
1. Cidade Das Flores Garden (Garden of Flower City)
This is a very nice and well maintained Chinese styled park. We actually visited it on our Macau Tour at the beginning of the semester and you can see the pictures from that here, I took a lot of photos that day. So. What is so great about this park? Well for one, it's very beautiful. There are small pavilions around the park to sit and relax, and a large pond filled with koi fish and turtles. I actually saw a man and his grandson feeding the fish bread, it was so cute. But then they got in trouble. Because you're not supposed to do that. But it was still cute. So the park itself is very nice and there's a playground attached too. It's also near a store called Park n' Shop which has a bunch of Western food that you can't find in normal supermarkets here. Like Goldfish. And cheese, oddly enough. It's pretty expensive, but convenient. Anyway, back to the park. The way that I describe it, it doesn't seem very special. But earlier this week, I was in the area (I was at Park n' Shop 😅) and it was just a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm, so I just strolled in. Without really meaning to, I spent the next 45 minutes sitting by the fish and finished the book I was reading. This is a prime example of what I mean when I say that there are places to be, not places to visit. It's arguably one of my favorite places in Taipa.2. Grand Taipa Hiking Trail/Taipa Grande Nature Park
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| So many stairs! |
This one was a bit of an unexpected addition to this list. Initially, earlier this week I was going to the Taipa Grande Nature Park, but I got there through the Grand Taipa Hiking Trail because that's best way to walk there if you can't drive. So I rode the bus to the foot of this large hill in Taipa and you can ride this cool elevator up. So at the top, you can get some nice photos of Cotai, which is the area with a bunch of casinos, and there is a nice sitting area too. Then, I started my hike. Now the main reason as to why this hiking trail was an unexpected addition to my list is because before getting there, I didn't really know it was a HIKING route, I just thought it was walking path to the park. So in my inappropriate shoes, I embarked on a very tiring walk up and down many stairs through the hill. It would be a very nice hike if I had expected it. I also didn't know that the path I took was called the "Fitness Steps Walk," or "Stairway to the Peak," since it reaches the highest point in Taipa, and that there was a less exhausting route I could have taken without the stairs😓. I should do more research next time. But I could see myself going back with some friends, there are a bunch of areas around the trails to go to. But my goal that day was the nature park.
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| Grass-skiing is just sliding down the hill on sleds. |
The park overlooked the Macau airport and had barbecue areas, a playground, and, my main motivator of going there, the grass-skiing field. Remember when I went hiking with a few friends a month or so ago? There was a grass-skiing field there as well, and I really wanted to go on it! I couldn't because I was too old, but I was told that there was one in Taipa I could do, and this was it. It wasn't nearly as big and tall as the one I couldn't go on, but of course I rode on it. The park has a lot of statues too, if you're into that. But seriously, there's over 50 of them. The people in them are supposed to portray the 56 ethnic groups of China. Other than that, the park was pretty normal. I still figured that it deserves to be a part of the list, mostly because of the grass-skiing 😃.3. Rua do Cunha
This one is a little touristy. It's a small street some stores and small food places. I liked it because it was so bustling with locals and tourists alike, and I kind of came across it on accident when walking to my number 4 pick. For some reason, I'm a big sucker for big signs with bright lights and small streets. This one was pretty much that, and I actually did buy a couple things from a souvenir store because I really am a tourist. I bought this a little expensive deck of cards because the box was all shiny and gold and had a lot of Macau casino references on it. It looked cool. Little did I know that all the cards were all shiny and fancy like that, worth it 🙌.4. Dra. Laurinda M. Esparteiro Garden
I had to do a little searching to find out what the name of this one was, and I probably would never call it by this name because it is very long and I'm a lazy person. So I would normally refer to it as the garden by the Taipa Houses Museum, which is another place that could have been on this list. Yes, there are many gardens on this list, but they really are some of the nicest areas in Taipa. I went here on the Macau Tour as well, and I was blown away by the colors and design of the park and all of the flowers. It's a pretty large area with some cool seating areas. I heard that it's very beautiful during the Lotus Flower Festival, but unfortunately, I would be able to see it because it's in June. At least when I returned earlier this week, they still had the decorations from Chinese New Year, so it was a very nice sight.5. Rua de Regedor
This is another street with some shopping, but has mostly restaurants. For some reason, I find it to be a very attractive area. Incidentally, it's home to Honest Pizza, one of the better pizza places in Macau, and therefore close to my heart. The employees also speak decent English which is a rarity in Macau. I was eating there a couple of nights ago, and I actually met some travelers who were from New York as well. Small world isn't it? I think that this street is a popular area for locals to eat, so it makes me feel good to walk around and choose a place I want to visit next time. It's also where I can buy a cup of serradura, which I mentioned in a previous post, is a pretty famous Macau dessert and is delicious. I think I know where I'll be eating for the next few months to get away from the cafeteria food 😄. |
| Let me know if you can find me 😉 |
If anyone else visits Macau and needs some places to relax for an afternoon, I'd recommend these places. You can get to all of them either directly by bus or easily walk between them. After all, Macau, and therefore Taipa, is not very big. Other than walking around Taipa, I didn't do that much this week. That is, until the weekend. On Saturday, a bunch of friends and I joined the Indian students for a Holi celebration. During Holi parties, everyone gets vibrant colored powders and color each others faces, hair, clothes, and anywhere else they can attack. No joke, we were purposely targeting the people who were the cleanest. By the end, we looked like crazy people. Needless to say, it was an interesting bus ride home. It was good fun, and I still have some blue in my left ear, but I just hope that I can wash the colors out of my clothes! Also, on Sunday I took advantage of my 10-year visa to Mainland China and went to nearby Zhuhai with some friends. We ate a lot of food and spent too much time at a cat cafe. So many cute cats 😍. That's it from me! I hope you guys have a wonderful week, and I'll be back next Sunday!
再见！
TL;DR: There are a lot of nice places to spend time at in Taipa, I guess I have a thing for parks, lights, and small streets, Holi is a pretty cool holiday, and cat cafes are amazing.
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