talking bird

I passed beside a popular mall south of the city in Ecoland Subdivision when 'someone' hooted a mischievous whistle. I looked around but saw no gorgeous figure or unusual scenario, except for a small, unassuming fastfood restaurant nearby with cages full of chirping lovebirds, and on a separate cage, that bird.

Ah, that bird. It was a black Mayna. Months ago I passed by the same area and I really suspect it was that bird who suddenly called "pangit!" In vernacular it meant ugly. Look who's talking. Frankly, it startled me that such an, er, honest-looking creature could chirp a little lie.

This bird needs a 'truthful' lesson or two. So I decided to have my lunch there and quietly waited for its reaction. Strange, it didn't dare say the 'p' word, must be my 3/4 sleeve striped white polo and sunglasses. After finishing a hearty meal, I approached it determinded to teach, yeah even this creature, the moral value of speaking trusty words; I demanded, "say pogi" (handsome).

To which the extremely smart, intelligent, amazing, astonishing bird replied:

"Pogi-pogi-pogi-pogi-pogi!!!"

bar-b-que restaurant

Look closely at the ceiling in one of the branches of a popular bar-b-que restaurant and it shows the regal Philippine Eagle eagle staring intently at customers. Davao is known for these native restaurants that serve grilled chicken, pork or tuna and other local menus with unlimited rice to boot and prices that are easy to the pocket.

large fruit

This is probably one of the largest jackfruits I had witnessed. Displayed on a fruitjuice stall inside a mall on the south side of the city, the fruit's impressive size attests the fertile volcanic soil of Davao, courtesy of nearby Mt. Apo, the 'grand old man' and tallest peak in the country. Davao is also dubbed as the Fruitbasket of the Philippines for the wide variety of exotic fruits found in its farms and orchards like banana, marang, mangosteen, rambutan, pomelo and of course, durian.

Look closely at the picture and the jackfruit actually 'speaks.' It insists it's for real just to convince exasperating skeptics.

indigenous cuisine

A little girl from a local ethnic tribe does her part in attending with her friend to their indigenous delicacies being sold to the crowd during the Kadayawan festivities, although her attention was attracted to a performance being done by another indigenous tribe on a stage nearby.

The indigenous delicacies were sold at pocket-friendly prices, providing the festival revelers with an array of exotic taste and textures to choose from. I tried most of these interesting sweets for a cultural taste through their food. There was one cuisine by another local tribe, the Ata-Manuvu, a generous serving of chicken-diced specialty wrapped with banana leaves, with an exotic sounding name I somehow forgot but clearly remembered the surprising price of only P10 (about US$0.22)! The taste however, was not only surprising but unforgettable. The exotic taste slowly exploded in my palate with surprisingly subtle taste of a mixture of soft, tasty chicken meat, a hint of coconut milk, and what seemed to be banana flowerbuds and/or raw jackfruit salad, whatever...but definitely it's one of the tastiest food I ever encountered!