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.

The political clans and buenas familias entrenched here include the Lopezes, Garcias, Santoses, and Villa-Abrilles who own the old buildings and subdivisions.

Don notes that a number of middle-income families are transferring to Davao. The family heads are either assigned by companies to the city, or they quit their jobs and put up their own business in a place where the peace and order is much improved, especially under the term of Rep. Rodrigo Duterte who has cultivated a law enforcer image a la Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Along Duterte Street is Kalsada Bar with various food stalls inside and live band music, a concept patterned after Glorietta Makati's Street Life. The same concept is applied at Zirkle, which stands at the former parking lot of Victoria Plaza and features billiards, a Chinese resto and what Don calls ''carinderia na class.''

There is a 2 a.m. liquor ban to maintain the peace, and people hanging out in bars spill out to eat at Colasa's, Mang Tura's Bulalo or the Select Convenience Store of Shell gas stations.

Another fave hangout of the young or artistic set is Puslan Man Art Pub on Torres Street, in an old house that has been converted into a gallery-drinking spot where Joey Ayala and his sister sometimes have a gig and where a tattoo artist does his thing.

Don explains the quaint name, ''It means mabaril man ako, pupunta ako diyan (even if I'm shot, I'll go there).''

During paydays these and other eateries are full. People enjoy eating out, observes Don. Why? ''The food is hindi kamahalan (not expensive). Seafood is cheap. There's so much panga (tuna jaw) in the market. The export of fish to Japan has stopped. To know if the bariles is fresh, it must be reddish. If it's pinkish, it's not so fresh anymore. But what some unscrupulous vendors do is to wrap red cellophane around the lightbulb that is focused on the fish so that it would look red.''

The morning after our brief spin around town, Cecille, Ruby and Silvia Gempesaw (also of Mandaya sales) take us to Davao's mini-Cordillera, the Eden Nature Park.

The directions going there state: ''Travel southward from Toril. After crossing the Toril intersection, immediately turn right at the next corner. When you reach a fork, follow the left road. After crossing the bridge, watch out for the next road to your left. Take this road which will lead you to the slopes of Mt. Talomo, passing by the barangays of Bato, Bayabas, and finally, Barangay Eden. If you fail to cross two bridges (Lipadas and Bato Bridges) and have travelled more than 10 kilometers, then YOU'RE LOST!''

As we climb higher and the air gets cooler, we notice clusters and clusters of sunflowers growing along the hillsides. In the park owned by Jesus Ayala's company, trees are properly labelled for an educational trip. A multitude of Benguet and blue pine, cacao, macadamia, mangosteen, duhat, marang banguhan, rambutan, bagras, coffee, lanzones, santol, tiessa, durian, anabiong, mangium, malapapaya, chico and guava trees greets the visitor taking the open-sided vehicle that goes 'round and 'round the park of rolling hills.

The graded winding ways are named Horseshoe (there's a stable), Poinsettia (planted to what else but the Christmas flower) and Shady (because of the canopy of trees), Saddleback Lanes, Mountain Drive, Convention Way and Boulder Trail.

A log cabin built in the 1970s can fit 12 people, and there are 10 Vista Cottages for honeymooning couples that overlook cliffs overrun with greenery and a waterfall. Water comes from a free-flowing spring, and they're drilling 2,500 feet for more water. A few terraced plots are planted to Japanese cucumber, lettuce, honeydew, soya bean and zucchini, supplying the 200-seat cafeteria with fresh-from-the-yard salad bar.

The Holiday Terraces, a five-level restaurant underneath giant trees and set against mini-waterfalls, and the Amphitheater Garden, which can seat 500 people in a lush setting that commands a view of the city and the gulf, make excellent venues for wedding receptions and other gatherings.