Central Taipa’s newest residence, Nova Park, is home to an enterprising young couple from Hong Kong.
10 months ago when Kirstin Wong and her fiancé Simon Arnold were planning a move to Macau, top of their home search wish list was that it be a new build with plenty of natural light and open views, 2 bedrooms, and unfurnished as they were bringing their own. 
After exploring various options in Macau and Coloane they decided that Central Taipa appealed to them because of easy access to shops, restaurants, banks and post office.
An added bonus to the area is that it’s within five minutes walking distance of Zung Fu’s office and Mercedes Benz show room, where Simon is General Manager.
They soon settled on Nova Park and have been delighted with the decision. “It’s a marvelously convenient location for us”, explains Kirstin. “We love the
Central Park that we look out on from our balcony. And walking around it we feel it’s really family orientated, we see lots of kids, and it seems a very dog friendly place.”
Nova Park was opened in late 2014. It consists of 3 towers with 41 to 42 storeys. There are 620 units; a mix of studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments, and several exclusive penthouse duplex units, these range from between 556 sq.ft -4,028 sq.ft.
Nova Park’s neighbours on the park are its older siblings Nova Taipa Gardens and Nova City. Billed as ‘Urban Parkside Living’ by the developers, both the external and internal finishes are good quality. The clubhouse, Park24, boasts being the first 24 hour residential clubhouse in Macau. Residents are provided with a custom designed Smartphone app. enabling them to make advance bookings for use of the facilities any time of the day or night. “All weather, all hour and always on standby” explains Warren Leung, Director of Property Sales for developer Shun Tak Holdings.
Park24 is divided into 3 themed zones: ‘Aqua’, ‘Terra’, ‘Aero’. On the Podium, ‘Aqua’, there is an indoor and outdoor pool, sundeck, jet spa, gym, garden and children’s play area ‘Terra’ is the game zone, containing the fitness station, party facilities and an organic farm. Finally ‘Aero’ is a triplex entertainment area spread over 40-42/F connected by a spiral staircase. Located here is the Parkview lounge, some pool tables, and banquet and conference facilities.
The living dining area in Kirstin and Simon’s apartment is open plan, and this together with the pale wood flooring, large windows and glass-fronted balcony give a sense of lightness to the space. When it comes to furnishing, “well I hope it doesn’t look too much like an IKEA catalogue!” laughs Kirstin, “but we really like their furniture’s clean lines, modern style, and its especially wonderful that they deliver and assemble in Macau.”
The dining chairs are old family favourites. Kirstin’s father is second generation Kee Wah Bakery family; at one stage he was a graphic designer and he has a passion for designer chairs – “our flat in Hong Kong, is full of them – no more room for any more, so we bought these with us!”
There’s plenty about the apartment that gives away Simon’s previous workplace, Burma, where he ran the Jardine Matheson franchise for Pizza Hut; an oil painting of a lady with a yellow hat that was a farewell gift from his business partner and friend for example, a beautiful intricately designed lacquer chess board, “layers and layers of paint” Kirstin says admiringly, and a large blue, papier-mache giraffe they’ve named Geoff. “He comes from an association for underprivileged women in Burma who are supported to become self sufficient through their handicraft work.” 
And the stunning red robe hanging in the master bedroom? “Ah, that’s a vintage Japanese wedding dress that Simon’s parents bought when they were in Japan in the 70’s. They hung it in their home so Simon grew up with it. His father gave it to us recently as we’ll be getting married soon”.
There are good sized bedrooms, both of which have deep window seats and views of the park. The couple use one as their home office.
What is it that Kirstin is enjoying about Macau? “I love Macau because the pace is slower. It’s not so intense, its more laid back I find the people are nicer than in Hong Kong – they actually stop at pedestrian crossings here!”
Kirstin grew up in Hong Kong and when she turned 18 she left for Boston University where she studied psychology. “Its a subject that always fascinated me, although I never had any intention of becoming a therapist. It’s something that is easily applied to many industries and my interests lay in marketing advertising.”
And its currently being put to good use in Kirstin’s new venture, an on line jewelry business called The Jewel Fix (www.thejewelfix.com). She’s always loved jewelry but when she took a short course on how to make it, she got well and truly hooked. “I decided to become a retailer. In Hong Kong I saw a lack of mid-priced jewelry. There’s the high street brands like H&M, stylish, on trend, highly seasonal, but not particularly well made. Then there are the high end luxury brands which are out of the price range of most. My business focuses on what’s in between that’s missing.”
Late last year Kirstin set up her company and website and started sourcing independent jewelry designers to bring to Asia. “Everything is on line. Rent is just too expensive and I don’t want to increase my prices to cover rent so I decided to keep it all on line, with the exception of pop up stalls which I’ve found quite successful and they give me good initial feedback from buyers.” 
Kirstin now works with several brands, American, Canadian, Spanish, Lebanese and a local designer from Hong Kong. Her buyer profile is between the ages of 25-45. What unites the brands under the umbrella of Kirstin’s value proposition is that the pieces all retail between HKD300 and HKD3,000.
“We give suggestions on how the pieces are worn – we use Instagram and Facebook to post photographs of the pieces being worn – especially important as I don’t have a physical shop location.” says Kirstin. “My message to the women out there is that you don’t have to spend a lot to buy a really pretty piece”.
Photo credit: Eduardo Martins, for Macau Closer
