Defining Davao

BEEN THERE. Done that.

The jaded traveler’s dismissive indifference at returning to some place previously visited comes not to Davao City. Where other places are just to be taken by instant camera flash, Davao City makes one continuing loop of an experience. The Tagalogs have a better way of putting it -- Hindi nakaka-umay, bagkus ay binabalik-balikan.

And so, for the nth time I set foot on Davao City over the weekend past, joining the inaugural Clark-Davao flight of Philippines AirAsia. Actually, a re-inaugural, given that four or five years ago, the same airline also took a number of us Pampanga-based media on its maiden-maiden flight to the then-as-now Duterte City.

Davao City has been defined as 1) durian; 2) waling-waling; 3) the Philippine eagle; 4) Mount Apo; 5) pomelo; and 6) Duterte, with all the ramifications that come with the name, not the least of which the palpable peace and ubiquitous order all around the place. The city retains all these, but that last one in the first order of meanings now.

And so, first stop for us was the by-now world-famous plain green house on Sapphire St., Dona Luisa Village Phase II, with uniformed PSGs and local cops at every nook and cranny. All very friendly though, starting at the registration booth where pass thousands of the Duterte diehards and the plainly curious day-by-day for the obligatory selfie with the President, if only in a cut-out by the gate of his house.

Not too subliminally, to impact the simplicity of the Duterte home, we were taken to nearby Uno Subdivision with photo stops by the high-walled, heavy steel-gated estates of the Ampatuans of Maguindanao: on one side of the road the “livable” residences with well-maintained manicured curbs; on the other, bush- and weed-overgrown unfinished constructions, overtaken by the events rising out of the Ampatuan Massacre of November 2009.

Not in Davao’s definition above is tuna – the fish having been appropriated to GenSan. But no trip to the city is complete without partaking of tuna-ten-ways at Marina’s – kinilaw, sashimi, kare-kare, grilled, souped, ginataan, sisig, pinakbet…the mouth waters at the mere thought of that delightful lunch.

No thanks to an adverse reaction to durian on a previous visit, I totally abstained from the sweetened delights at Apo ni Lola, or the fresh fleshy fruits along Magsaysay Ave. Not even the durian brew served in just about every coffeeshop of note.

From the highlands to the islands. No other city in the Philippines has been so much blessed by nature of such geographical diversity.

Aside from Mount Apo, there’s Mount Talomo at the slope of which is nestled Eden Nature Park, a living forest with over 100,000 pine trees and other hardwood like narra and mahogany, plus plantation-sized farms of cacao, mangosteen, dragonfruit, etc. and, but of course, durian. And flower gardens too, serving well as pre-nuptial photo shoots.

With its crisp, cool mountain air, Eden Nature Park makes the perfect weekend family getaway with cottages, mountain villas and log cabins.

Extreme sports abound too – sky cycle, sky swing, sky rider.

One in the bucket list I planned to cross out but failed – ziplining. The spine is too brittle to risk, at this time. Five years back, I did one entry in my list, finishing, with much more energy to spare, the four-hour Davao Wild Water Adventure, after being tossed out of the raft twice, through the 25 rapids of the Upper Davao River. Another off-bucket list experience then: feasting on stewed crocodile meat at the eponymous farm owned by the Dizons of Porac, Pampanga.

  The island part took half day of hopping and swimming at a taklobo conservation site, a sumptuous seafood lunch at Talikod Island and a look-see from the boat of Pearl Farm Resort. Enough to sate the salty craving for the sea.

Speaking of cravings, the Museo Dabawenyo readily fills that of the cultural kind. It houses, albeit on summarized scale the history of the city, its heritage – the 11 tribes and their respective customs, traditions and ways of life, and serves too as gallery for the city’s artists.

 And more cravings – who doesn’t for chocolates? Find it at Malagos Chocolate Museum subtitled “Tree to Bar Experience” – a virtual Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory come alive. Guests here can craft their own choco bar from the ingredients laid out on a bar and a vat of liquid chocolate.        

Malagos is more than chocolate though. It is a garden resort that includes an aviary for bird-feeding, ponds for fish-feeding, a butterfly garden with a Museo de Mariposa, a waling-waling forest and playground for kids.          

Something I’d been denied in all previous trips to Davao, I made sure I would not miss this time around – a visit to the Philippine Eagle Center, if only to lay my eyes on majestic Pag-asa, the most famous of the few remaining pithecophaga jefferyi, hatched and bred in captivity at the center.

And I did, though but a glimpse of him perched on a branch of a tall tree, nearly hidden by the foliage. Closer encounters with other eagles made a most soul-stirring experience. Aye, why can’t we just leave nature in peace?   

So ended this last Davao jaunt. Already, pining for the next one. With much more of the same to see, feel, hear, taste, sense. And love, like the first time around. Again.