flora of kadayawan

Since it was the Kadayawan Festival, we didn't have to go to the orchid farms. They came to us. For the month of August, there was a flower and plant exhibit at the parking lot of SM City Davao. Horticultural heaven!


My favorite? This lovely white rosal. No perfume in the world can compare to its scent.


There was a bonsai competition, too.

Plants, we'll be back.

king of fruits

This would be the first time that I would eat durian voluntarily. When we were kids, Pop would bring crates of durian home all the way from Davao and force us to eat them because they were "good for you". They would stink up the car, as well as the entire house. To make them easier to eat, he'd ask the househelp to break them open, take the meat out and put them in plastic containers to be stored in the refrigerator. That meant that the refrigerator would stink, too. For weeks. Needless to say, I did not like durian.


21 August 2010, Davao City. I had decided that it was time to try the durian in its natural environment, among die-hard fans who eagerly seek out its pungent scent and earnestly believe that it is the King of Fruits. Hot Tuna, our friend from London sent me a message: "You will love it. Don't be afraid."

We buy a good-sized one at the Trade Fair at SM City Davao and the vendor expertly cracks it open for us. The smell doesn't bother me, surprisingly. It's no worse than a yummy stinky French cheese. The texture of the meat's outer layer is smooth with a little give. It's a very delicate color which reminds of whipped butter.

We each grab an enormous seed wrapped in durian flesh, take a deep breath and chomp down on the flesh. We chew. And chew. And chew.


It's fantastically horrible. A flood of gag-inducing flavors assaults my taste buds. Every few seconds, just when I think that it can't taste any worse, a new wave of unpleasantness hits me like a blow from Manny Pacquiao. I swallow, and the aftershock in the back of my throat is what I think rotten maggoty meat would taste like.

Too late, our friend and local guide Marang (not the fruit) notices our facial expressions and says, "Actually, you can use your fingers, pinch off a little flesh, place it on your tongue and then hold it against the roof of your mouth until it melts away. That way, the flavor won't be so intense. You probably shouldn't have bitten into that huge piece in your hand, there." Er, thanks a lot. We were just following your lead, you know.

I do as instructed. It is definitely less traumatic. It feels like sweet custard dissolving on my tongue, with a slightly bitter finish. I put some more in my mouth, trying to hold on to that fleeting mixture of weird flavors and textures. I do it again and again. Before I know it, it's almost all gone.


Fresh durian is unlike anything I have ever tasted before. It doesn't taste like fruit at all. Not vegetable. Not meat, either. It's completely alien and incomprehensible. It is insidiously addictive! Marang (again, not the fruit) said that unlike Davaoeños who had been eating this stuff from birth, it usually takes four or five tries for newbies to get used to it, but by then, they will be hooked and can't live without it.

As we drove around Davao for the week that we were there, we saw durian everywhere. Its unmistakable odor hung over the city like a pervasive fog. People sat on the sidewalks, digging in and licking their fingers, surrounded by mounds of empty shells. We saw families sitting around rickety tables al fresco, consuming one durian after another at an incredible pace, eating it with pork barbeque and knocking back bottles of Pepsi.

It will probably take a while for me to get to that stage. In the meantime, I will practice by eating durian pastries and candies. Like this delicious durian sans rival at Coffee Cat along Torres.


I would have no trouble eating this everyday. And yez, it's the durian that makes it so nice.

fruits of kadayawan

The best place to see, buy and eat fruits in Davao City during Kadayawan? SM-- they've got it all!

Trade Fair at SM City Davao.

Durian, King of Fruits.

Mangosteen, Queen of Fruits.

Pomelo. Not so good because they weren't in season.

Lanzones. There's a variety called Longkong that we ate like candy.

Rambutan. My chiropractor recently told me that the seed is edible and full of anti-oxidants.

Santol. I prefer them preserved/ pickled.

Marang. Our best discovery in Davao. How come we'd never heard of it before?

Heavenly! (drooling..)

We kept stuffing our faces with it.

None of the fruit that we encountered cost more than PHP35 a kilo. Ridiculous! Now we can't buy these fruits anywhere else because we'll always remember how cheap and plentiful they were in Davao. We have been spoiled forever.

snakes and eagles

Guess what happened to Bunny Rabbit in Davao?

An albino python tried to make love to him. Kinky!

To get to the pythons, from Bagobo House Hotel on Duterte, we walked two blocks to Quirino where we caught a jeepney to Calinan. We told the conductor that we wanted to go to the Philippine Eagle Center, so he dropped us off at the bike stand where motorcycles for hire waited to take tourists to Malagos, where the Eagle Center is located. The whole trip took about an hour and cost us PHP95 one-way (about US$1 each). Coming back to our hotel was more expensive because we decided to take the AC van instead of the jeepney. It cost us an additional PHP10, for the BOTH of us. Crazy cheap.

So then we paid PHP5 each to enter the park. That's where we met the snakes. They're not officially part of the facilities, by the way. There are some vendors on the driveway who bring the snakes and ask people if they want to have their picture taken with a giant man-eating reptile. Do it. It's fun. Leave a tip.

We walked around the grounds a bit, read a few signs.

And then we entered the eagle sanctuary. Lots of green everywhere. I don't think I'd ever been anywhere so lush and primal-rainforesty. We paid PHP50 each to see the eagles.

But first, we met Alex the Hawk.

Some funny owls.

A huge-ass crocodile.

And finally, we saw some eagles.

There's not a lot to do in Davao City, even though it's the largest city in the world. (Yez, the WORLD. It's 244,000 hectares in area.) So the Philippine Eagle Center is pretty much unavoidable. I really wanted to go anyway, having a strange urge to visit eagles whenever I can, just to check if they're blue. I had a good time. I just wish that whoever's in charge works to improve the facility and make it more attractive and INTERactive. For example, those signs could use some freshening up. And maybe they can offer guided tours for the visitors.

Please visit the Philippine Eagle Center. Their work is very important. They need all the support they can get.

children of kadayawan

21 August 2010, Saturday, Davao City. Part of the Kadayawan festivities is the Indak-indak Sa Kadalanan. It's a street-dancing parade, loosely patterned after the Mother Of All Street-dancing Parties-- Kalibo's Ati-atihan. I think the 20-plus dance troupes were supposed to represent the different tribes of Mindanao, but some of the costumes and choreography were only vaguely tribal. Still, it was loads of fun.

I'm not usually interested in taking pictures of people (to the frustration and dismay of my friends and family), but these kids were fantastic. Tip: Go early. The children are fresh and excited in the morning, before 10AM. It's very hot, so after a couple of hours, the kids get tired and it's harder to get them to smile.


The Indak-indak truly makes Davao worth visiting. I was surprised that there were very few tourists around. Mostly, it was just us photographers darting in and out of the parade. Following alongside were the kids' mothers and nursemaids. There were a lot more spectators the next day, but the Sunday parade, Pamulak, was no great shakes, really.

More on Davao to follow...