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Philippines |
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Yet other new reasons to visit Davao |
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Source: Inquirer |
Author: Elizabeth Lolarga |
Date: 1998-12-27 |
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A PEACOCK showing off its feathers
on the lawn was one of the images we
carried away from this last visit to
Davao City.
The others were T'boli brass bells tinkling around a woman's
waist, an expansive hotel lobby with a sparkling marble floor
from where rose a gigantic Christmas tree, a Philippine Airlines
plane taking off on the left and a ferryboat coming in on the
right as seen from the panoramic height of a hilltop view deck.
And more: soaking for longer
than necessary in a tub
brimming with warm water and
bubbles, and hungrily tearing
into a barbecued chicken in a
downtown inasal joint.
The occasion that brings us to
the land of lumads (natives)
and durian is the inauguration
early this month of the
280-room Royal Mandaya
Hotel on Palma Gil Street in downtown Davao, which is
experiencing a hotel-builing spree. (The others still to formally
open are the Mercure and the Marco Polo, the last touted to be
owned by the sultan of Brunei.
Elsewhere, new inns and hostels like Tower and Elles are
catering to visiting businessmen who stay away from the
tourist-class lodging places.)
Among other features, the Mandaya boasts of ''the biggest
lobby with the highest ceiling in Davao City'' designed by
architect Roland Laurena.
Already, the hotel is implementing an environmental awareness
program that minimizes the use of detergent and cleaning
solutions and conserves water.
This reminder is pasted on the mirror of one's bathroom: ''To
Friends of Nature, If you want to use your towels again, please
hang or air-dry them in the bathroom. If you want a fresh
replacement, please place your used towels in the bathtub.''
On inauguration night, the guests, led by the hotel owners (the
Escandor family), social consultant Margie Moran-Floirendo,
Gov. Rosie Lopez, Mayor Benjamin de Guzman, Philippine
Centennial Commission Chair Salvador Laurel, San Juan Mayor
Jinggoy Estrada and the city's creme de la creme, toast the
occasion and nibble on the elaborate cocktail spread that
includes a gingerbread house and edible mock reindeer.
At one point we meet up with Don Barranco, old pal, Davao
returnee, Ateneo de Davao art teacher and painter who
unofficially takes over hosting duties from Mandaya's
busybody (and at times shy) sales and marketing staff Ruby
Nepomuceno and Cecille Lorenzana.
We suddenly get a craving for inasal and ask Don where we
can indulge ourselves. And as rain pours heavily, as if to bless
Mandaya's neo-Gothic twin turrets, we take a taxi to the popular
Colasa's Bar-be-q Restaurant, just behind the Bonifacio
monument.
The treat: spit-roasted chichen lathered with a tasty orangey
sauce and liver, with a dip of kalamansi, soy sauce and chili,
eaten with rice served on a small plate. The twin orders of
pecho, atay, rice and soft drinks amounted to only P138. It's
kamayan all the way, and the visitor from Manila needn't worry
about drinking from the tap.
Don quotes his father, a chemical engineer, who attests that
Davao has the second best potable water in the world, next only
to squeaky-clean Switzerland.
''Leave your glass of water for a few minutes, and it will moisten
because the water is cool, constant at 24 degrees Centigrade,''
Don says authoritatively.
A Quezon City resident for some years, Don returned to Davao
three years ago to the ''life that was easy compared to Manila,
where you work really hard and your money just goes around.''
''Food here is cheaper and of better quality,'' he declares, citing a
bundle of sitaw which costs P10 in Manila and only P2 in
Davao. At the height of the PAL strike, the veggies couldn't be
shipped out so they were selling dirt-cheap.
To be continued...
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