Lay witness to my so-called fundamental existence.

I arrived in Davao City several hours ahead of my ex-officemate friend who would be flying in from Manila. I brought along with me the itinerary for the next 3 days and we would be exploring this wonderful city in the south along with some other friends.

I waited for my other friend who’s based in this city. At the 24-hour fastfood joint near Victoria Plaza, I kept thinking about the places that I wanted to visit – those spots which I haven’t visited for several years now and those places which I haven’t set my feet on.

Part of my objective really, besides exploring the 8th biggest city in the world in terms of land area, is the prospect of changing bases and to relocate to Davao for 2010. I took one September friday off to think about this wonderful opportunity to settle away from my beloved Cebu.

I sip my coffee and devoured layers of pancakes as my friend arrived to take me back to the airport and fetch my officemate. She arrived a little past 8 in the morning.

All throughout my stint in my current job, I’ve seen myself in this city on several occasions. This time though, my visit is primarily to enjoy what Davao has to offer and of course to share the exploration of the city with my friends.

Cookie and I fetched our friend Joyce at the airport. She was as excited as I was to visit Davao.  A first timer,  Joyce wanted to know the places that she should visit. I briefed her about the schedule I made earlier and we were so eager to start our tour of Dabaw.

Davao City sits on a portion of a gulf with a mighty river snaking its way from the highlands and empyting into the sea. The mighty Tagloc River, also called Davao, where the old Bolton Bridge spans from one bank to the other. Davao is called with several other names by different tribal groups, from the Bagobos to the Guiangans and even the aboriginal Obos. All the same, they point to Davao as the land that is beyond the high grounds.

We were quite amazed on the mere size of the city. Their international airport is located several miles from the city center. From Las Casitas Hotel, we ironed out our itinerary for the day and headed off to Ponce Suites.

Found at Dona Vicenta Subdivision, this hotel-slash-art gallery is a new attraction. Ponce Suites is basically a hotel. It’s design however is unconventional.

Joyce was fascinated by the artworks at Ponce Suites. The whole building was an art gallery. We explored it from the lobby, then to the upper floors and finally up to the roof top where the restaurant and convention hall are placed. Most of the artworks were from its owner, Kublai Millan and the materials were mostly from recycled objects. The hotel itself manifested horror vaccui. Almost all the spaces on every wall and every ceiling were filled with his artworks.

I’ve stayed in this hotel a couple of times. Though I must say that the aesthetics were unconventional. If you ask me if the gallery extends to the interiors of the guest rooms, then I would have to say NO. The rooms are stripped of the artworks and oversized ants in queues. The rooms are rather simple and basic.

At the foot of Davao’s mountain system, there’s a non-profit, non- stock, non-government organization that focuses on saving and protecting the Philippine Eagle, a rare and endangered monkey-eating raptor that is said to be endemic to the country.

The Philippines Eagle has several names too. It’s scientific name is Pithecophaga jefferyi. This bird of prey could be found only in the Philippines, primarily in Leyte, Samar, Eastern Luzon and Mindanao. It said that at present, about 300 – 500 birds are surviving in the wild. There are 36 eagles at the Eagle Foundation, half of which were bred in captivity.

We went to the Eagle Foundation to visit PAG-ASA. The eagle that was born in 1992 by parents Diola and Junior. This bird was made as a symbol of hope for the conservation of the Philippine Eagle. Through the efforts of the foundation, the birds that were bred in captivity may soon be released in the wild.

Aside from the Philippine Eagle, other birds of prey are also being protected and bred, such as the sea eagles and kites. There’s a lonely crocodile in the middle of the eagle center and some monkeys and wild boars too.

We traveled back to the Diversion Road and stopped at a hotel in Ma-a. The hotel actually sits on a hill where the Japanese Tunnel was located.

This tunnel was discovered when the diversion road was being built. The tunnel is now within a private property. On a personal note, the local government should have secured the lot where the tunnel was found. For something historical such as this one, the people of Davao should give importance to the accounts that happened during the second world war. I hope people would appreciate how our forebearers labored hard under fear and force to dig up and construct a tunnel for the enemies.

Davao fell into the rule of the Japanese forces during the second World War. Japanese forces bombed the city in December 0f 1941 and was occupied by the said forces the following year. It was liberated by American troops in 1945.

Davao City has quite a significant number of Japanese immigrants who came decades before the world war. Little Japan was created in the 1903 when the first group of Japanese farmers arrived to work in the plantations of abaca and coconut. This was due to the fact that a Japanese entrepreneur, Kichisaburo Ohta was granted permission to convert idle territories into croplands.

Scattered in some districts in Davao are reminders of Little Japan or Little Tokyo such as the old Japanese houses and warehouses in Daliao, Toril which were once the center of abaca processing before the war broke out; the Furukawa (abaca) Plantation, and the Japanese Museum.

Other places of Japanese interest are world war memorial sites such as the Battle Memorial, Mintal Historical Marker for Col Yamada, the Ottha Kyosaburo Memorial Shrine and the Japanese Peace Memorial Shrine in Mintal.

From the Japanese Tunnel, we drove down and had a late lunch at Lachi’s Sans Rival, Atbp. This small restaurant along Ruby Street, Marfori Heights has one of the best food around town. Recommended are Elsie’s Melt-in-your-Mouth Roast Pork, the Unforgettable Grilled Pork Ribs, and of course, the Sans Rival.

A few blocks from the restaurant is the pride of the city government: the People’s Park. The 4-hectare park is located on what used to be the city sports complex or the old PTA grounds.

The local government infused 71 million for this flagship projects and commissioned Kublai Millan (the artist-owner of Ponce Suites) to put up sculptures and artworks all over the park.

We dropped by the park just a little over sun-down and we observed how the park was covered with lights.

There’s much to see inside People’s Park. More than a handful of Kublai’s sculptures are erected, mostly of children in tribal costumes and in positions referring to local games or activities. A huge sculpture of the Philippine eagle with its wings half-opened greets the visitors near the park entrance.

A huge rainbow was painted on one of the arched tracks in the park. The rainbow passes the huge Durian Dome. In the middle of the park is an arched bridge spanning a pool with interactive fountain that comes to life at night.

Thousands of plants, trees and flowers dot the park. From the time it opened in December of 2007, the park became a favorite place to hang-out, especially on weekends.

We visited one more place in the city which is also frequented by Davaoenos. It’s a private park along the shores of Davao, Times Beach in Matina to be exact, with a huge replica of Michelangelo’s David. It’s still quite unclear why the owner decided to erect this larger-than-life replica of the Goliath slayer.

What is known at present is that the park is controversial, as it was built by the management of Queensland Lodge but the park was on public grounds. Aside from the technical and geographical basis for the controversy, several concerned individuals were using moral grounds to halt the completion of the park.

As a tourist, I do not see anything wrong in erecting a replica of David. Michelangelo’s statue is a masterpiece in the Renaissance period, a symbol of the defense of civil liberties, an iconic shorthand for “culture” so they say. How this symbolism would connect to the present controversy  with the local government, I would leave it to you to ponder.

A bit intriguing though is the Little Mermaid copied from Edvard Eriksen’s original in Copenhagen. This was erected off the concrete ramp a few meters from the replica of David. The purpose of Den Lille Havfrue in Davao City is far from anyone’s thoughts. We took pictures of the Little Mermaid anyways.

These summed our first day touring around Davao City. Tomorrow’s about the island nearby.