When British couple Samiya and Derek Allan came to live in Macau in 2002, they rented a spacious 2,000 square foot, 4 bedroom 4 bathroom apartment opposite Sintra Hotel in central Macau, for the grand sum of HK$4,000 a month. They were happy times and their four young children had a constant stream of friends over.
“We were offered the apartment to buy for HK$1M but decided against it as it needed a lot of work doing to it,” says Samiya. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course today that apartment would be worth at least 10 times that!” she laughs.
Rents continued creeping up and so in 2006 they decided to buy. This meant downsizing was necessary; school bills in Macau are not cheap anyway, but with four children aged then between 4 and 11, the budget had to be tailored accordingly.
“In Hong Kong where we’d been living, I was fed up driving the children here and there for all the many after school activities, so I said that I wanted to be down town so we could walk or take the bus,” explains Samiya.
The Allans fell in love with an area that is on the isthmus, the very narrowest part of the Macau peninsular – tucked in behind the Leal Senado, on the one side is Praia Grande just two minutes walk away, and on the other side is the inner harbour.
“This was the first place we saw and we knew it was for us. We are in an area of Macau that is brimming with history.”
The old Police Station two lanes away used to be a refugee centre for those fleeing the Cultural Revolution. Further up the hill is the 16th century St Augustine Church and opposite the beautiful Dom Pedro Theatre, the 18th century St Joseph’s Seminary and Church and “the wonderful Sir Robert Ho Tung library, once the Ho Tung’s family home, where the kids go to read and hang out with friends in the gardens.”
“We consider ourselves so fortunate being here in this little nook where you can feel connected with everything, it’s just great! We hear the chiming of the six bells of the Post Office, the very low bell at 5 o’clock of St Augustine’s and the fog horns from the ships in the spring. And at night, total peace whilst old Macau sleeps.”
Situated just off the narrow one way street of Calcada do Gamboa, the Allan’s 1,000 square foot home is on the fifth floor and laid out over two levels with a balcony and an open roof, exotically described in the Deeds, Samiya smiles, “as a Penthouse Duplex.”
“When the man came to fit the blue carpet upstairs he asked me ‘Why have you moved to such a poor area?’” Samiya laughs. “But our neighbourhood being very local is a major plus for us! There’s a Macanese family next to us – we both have roofs and so we watch the fireworks together. Jen, my lovely, lovely Macau Chinese friend lives directly below us. She knows that I adore red bean desert soup so every time she cooks a batch she’ll bring me up a bowl. The old grandma on the 4/F would have the kids in and give them a drink when they were young and got back from school early.”
As one enters the home, there is a staircase to the left, balcony directly ahead and living cum dining area that leads to the kitchen at the end on the right. A beautiful eight foot tall Chinese carved elm wood cabinet, found many years ago in a little store tucked away down an alley off Hollywood Road in Hong Kong, is a family treasure and holds pride of place.
The kitchen, through a blue and white arch, has been charmingly decorated in blue and white diagonal tiles, white counter top, blue cabinets, and Samiya’s collection of blue and white chinaware. Behind a blue and white checkered cloth is a tiny laundry.
The long balcony running the length of the downstairs is where Derek, a freelance photographer, enjoys sitting outside for a smoke, and where Nothing, the pet guinea pig resides.
Up the stairs, which for space and openness have had their banisters removed and replaced with piles of books and more blue and white chinaware, one draws aside a thick carpet hanging at the top, to arrive at a landing area cum study and an Aladdin’s cave of treasures; artifacts collected over the years, more books and a much loved oil painting from Mr. Fong, previously with Zee Stone – in blues, greys and whites, of a wild coastal scene.
The master bedroom is spacious enough to fit a king size bed, made by a local shop that used to be by St Paul’s steps. The window blinds are metal, and unusually pretty with a floral design.
Across the hall is a small bathroom – “with a window out on to one of the best views of Macau whilst we shower”.
Next door, Hendrix, aged 13, has his own room – a low bed, big window looking over to Ponte 16, the inner harbour and the fast developing Zhuhai with the backdrop of hills. A wooden Chinese table that apparently started life as a mahjong table, but then had its legs cut, is a perfect computer desk. Hendrix’s rugby medals, from his time playing for Simon Carrington’s The Macau Bats rugby team, hold pride of place.
At the end of the hall is a spacious bathroom for the girls, recently renovated to make a large shower stall. Next to it is their room, with bunk beds and turquoise walls, which used to sleep three; Phoebe 15, Pia 18 and Paisley 20 – but the third bed has been removed to make way for Phoebe’s drum kit, as Paisley is now away studying in London.
“Living in such close quarters has made our family close,” explains Samiya. “The focus is not the house as it is in most Western families – we’re more Asian in that way, we use the outside a lot – we do lots of outdoor activities, sports, sailing, church, friends. It’s been very beneficial to my family and given the children a lot of independence, motivation and drive”.
Certainly their choice of local lifestyle has been a success for the Allan family. Their unpretentious, natural and engaging manner puts the visitor instantly at ease. And from their roof terrace looking down over a sea of low rise corrugated roofs stretching into the distance, past the lovely Senado Square post office, towards the Fort Museum on the hill, one is drawn to this old Macau charmed existence.
