Portuguese Village Coloane (#MyFirstMacaoTrip)

April 23, 2023

You probably have read my first blog about #MyFirstMacaoTrip posted on Wednesday Walk community, and this is just another part of it. From the central part of Macao, we traveled to the southern part just to visit a place and taste its famous delicacy. But while wandering around, we stumbled upon a bazaar so we opted to stop over. Then as we walked farther, we discovered more beautiful spots to explore.

I initially thought we'll be visiting the Parisian and Venetian Macau. However, the bus we rode in just passed by the place and I had no idea of where we were heading. My boss's family looked too tired as they fell asleep on the bus. Until the young lady woke up and said, we're going to the last stop.

Just imagine that! People would travel for more than half an hour to the southern part just to visit this certain place, taste its delicacies and cuisines, and of course, wander around the scenic village.

Olá Coloane!

In the southern part of Macao lies this small village which is popular to locals and tourists because of its relaxing and Instragrammable environment, and delectable cuisine. Coloane is a big area of Macao and this village is one of its popular spots to explore.

Despite the huge number of tourists, the tranquillity of the place was what I noticed as I wandered my eyes around, along with the Portuguese-Chinese architecture.

The very first place we visited was Lord Stow's Bakery. There was a long queue of people wanting to buy its product. This is a well-known bakeshop, and tourists come to the area just to purchase its goodies. When we visited this village, there was no time that no customers were lining up outside

The same age as me, this was founded in 1989 and become popular, not just in Macao, but throughout Asia because of its very own egg tart which became an icon and a must-eat dessert in Macao! This is where Macao egg tarts started.

We bought a box of it and I liked it so much. The crust isn't the same as other egg tarts, rather flaky, and so soft custard inside. It isn't too sweet either that people truly love. Despite my food intolerance, I must admit that it's a kind of forbidden dessert I want to try again and again.

Aside from the bakery, people also love dining at Lord Stow's shops - the Cafe and Garden Cafe. A queue of customers is a typical view outside Lord Stow's shops. This tells how great the foods are in these shops.

This was the queue outside the bakery when we went back after wandering around the village.

We rested along the waterfront and ate the tarts. There are various benches along the promenade, and Mainland China can be seen across the water. It appears to be so close that I could take a boat to get there. However, as my boss stated, a visa is required when traveling to China from Macao, just as it is when traveling from Hong Kong.

This structure is the famous Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel in Guangzhou China. There is also a popular theme park operated by the same company which is similar to Ocean Park. This is just one of those I wanted to visit in China.

After eating our dessert, we walked along the waterfront and came across Eduardo Marques Square. There was an Easter Bunny Bazaar happening in the area.

Before entering the square, a monument caught my attention. This was built to commemorate a win over pirates back in the day.

A story in this article said that:

A group of children has been captured by pirates in 1910 in exchange for ransom. But the residents fought back, and the children were rescued after days of intense battle.

We stopped over to check what were the items being sold in the bazaar. Since it was the weekend, there were quite a lot of visitors in this village stopping by the bazaar.

Here are just some of the items sold in the bazaar. There were some unique accessories, scented candles, native bags, pet toys and accessories, Spring/Autumn fashioned clothes, snacks, artworks, and other gift items.

At the end of the square is the Chapel of St Francis Xavier in yellow color. This baroque-styled chapel was built in 1928. It houses some historical relics and a bone from St. Francis Xavier's arm, as well as some remains of persecuted Japanese Christians and Catholic priests crucified in Nagasaki. So this chapel is an important landmark in Christian and Catholic Asia history.

Since I was with my boss's family, I wasn't able to enter the church. I should have prayed inside if I was on my own.

On the left of the square, occupying the whole side of the archway is the famous alfresco Nga Tim Cafe open since 1972 as its banner shows. This cafe is serving both Portuguese and Chinese cuisine, and of course, local Macanese food.

Those enormous banyan trees stuck in between roofs are another attraction. Instead of cutting out, they become part of the cafe. Trunks are painted white to match the cafe's exterior colors.

Located just next to the square is the Biblioteca or Coloane Public Library. It was built in 1911 and was once a Public Primary School, and was converted into a public library in 1983.

I also noticed that most of the structures in this village have yellow paintings. Meanwhile, I heard that the neighboring village, Taipa, is in green.

We came across different street murals as we walked farther along the waterfront.

Meanwhile, this mural resembles the stilt houses by the riverside of Coloane which I spotted as we rested along the waterfront.

The place also reminded me of Tai O Village with similar stilt houses, but these are more modern ones.

The stilt houses are located behind these houses along the river. This particular street along Largo do Mataduoro is also one of the highlights, with houses painted yellow and green alternately, as shown in the photo. Mataduoro, if I'm not mistaken, means slaughterhouse. So, back in the day, this location most likely had slaughterhouses.

We spotted Coloane Tinghai near the art street. A popular dessert and beverage shop in Coloane. It is famous for its soft ice cream freshly made every day where customers could add any toppings they want.

From the waterfront, we went inside the village and walked around. Its narrow alleys reminded me of those in Hong Kong. The village is truly tranquil despite the tourists roaming around. You wouldn't hear any disturbing noises or honking cars, unlike in cities.

The village uses this kind of mailbox, different from those in other areas of Macao which I shared in my first blog.

This House of Puppets is the art and cultural center in Coloane. The bottom floor occupies a beverage shop that also sells theatre and cultural souvenir items from House of Puppets.

Many of the houses in Coloane are just small and simple which is typical in some other villages. But in some parts, there are tall and modern houses too.

We stayed in this village for more or less an hour before we decide to go back to the central area of Macao, particularly in Venetian Macao, and visited other places too. These will be shared one of these days.

If permitted, I also want to submit this in participation to #MarketFriday this week as @dswigle might be interested to add the bazaar part to #MarketFriday stories.

That's all for today and happy Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

(All photos are mine)

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