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Friday, December 07, 2007

UNDER-RATED DAVAO CITY







Think of a city 3 ½ times bigger than the whole of Singapore; think of a weather 2 degrees cooler than Manila -- 6-lane thoroughfares, wide open spaces, massive shopping malls, typhoon-free weather, spotless sidewalks and most of all, cosmopolitan nightlife! *I had to put the nightlife last, that’s what we came here for. Ha!*

Davao City’s territory is 2,444 km² (943.6 sq mi) big and was inducted as a city in 1937. It is said that it’s one of the largest cities in Asia (or the world?) by land area. Hmm…what they do with those acres and acres of empty land is something I don’t know. In the strictest definition of a city -- those hundreds of square kilometers of coconut (and what-have-you) plantations would not be included. There’s something off how they define city and provincial limits.

But the city center ishow should I put it?...Uhm…surprisingly impressive. The sidewalks are clean, no ciggie butts in sight, no rubbish lyin’ around. No vendors on the roadside either, if you wanna shop – there’s a designated place for it. Discipline is the game in Davao. *we are really impressed with all honesty*

The city’s name came from Davoh, Duhwow, Davau and Dabu. These are words of different indigenous people referring to the Davao River. 1.9 million people live here and swell to 2.5 million at day time – mainly workers from neighboring areas.

Davao City is located in the typhoon-free belt of Southeast Asia. Cities like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, BS Begawan, Kota Kinabalu and alike, shares this “blessing” with Davao. This area was also a Muslim enclave before the Spanish came.

The nightlife?...Well, BISEANers are not really that hard to please when it comes to partying. We’ll give Davao City nightlife (based on our really frenzied bar-hopping last night)a 4-star. *There, no appeals would be entertained. So shut up.*

These are all first impressions, o’right? So don't go bombing us with corrections, insults and "hey-you're-wrong" comments *as if I’ve never been here before, ha!* and we’ll expand the details as we go along.

Davao City is absoloutely under-rated -- it has to be seriously explored.



Davao can be reached directly by flight from Singapore, Manado (Indonesia) and Seoul. Also domestic flights from Cebu (30mins), Manila (1hr40mins) and Zamboanga City. It is 6 hours drive from Cagayan de Oro City.


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Related posts:
*BISEAN in Davao City
*Playing Cat and Mouse with The Punisher

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

woohoo! you guys are in davao now? im a dabawenyo! and an atenean! that's my school up there! davao also became the #1 most livable city in the philippines and #14 or 16(i cant remember) way back! I'm glad you guys love our city! where did you guys go last night? did you guys go to POPS? its the hottest club in davao right now, to see and to be seen.

Anonymous said...

Just some info for your readers, starting 8 May 2008, there will be direct flights from Iloilo City (where I live) to Davao City thrice weekly, thanks to regional carrier Cebu Pacific Air. It will provide a good alternative to travellers from these two cities without having to stop over Cebu City. I hope you and your companions can venture to this part of the Philippines one of these days.

เดินทาง อย่างปลอดภัย (I hope I got the phrase right)

Anonymous said...

#14th or 16th in SEAsia, you guys should explore our beaches too in samal island, well actually samal's another city, but heck i still consider it as part of davao. go to pearl farm! the best resort in samal!

Anonymous said...

we're also the only city outside the US and Canada that adopted the "911" system! they use a modified version of its Geographic and Information System—and called it the Emergency Computer Aided Dispatch (ECAD) to help authorities locate the origin of emergency calls. The system even tracks how fast the police could respond to the emergency calls. The system also uses color-coded icons to monitor movement and location of police mobile units.

BEAR with me guys, im a proud dabawenyo hehehe

Jerick said...

BOARDSHORTS.MULTIPLY.COM:
man, you're one proud dabawenyo! (wa na'y problema nako!).
used to stay in davao and i used to attend church near san pedro church in claveria st. that church that had people play basketball from mornings till night (figure that one out!).
and yeah, davao's really huge! it's like three times the size of Metro Manila!

@dhawellskie said...

hahaha. im from davao too u know. And im also an Atenean. and yes Davao city (2443.61 Square Kilometer or 943.6 sq mi) is one huge city... even bigger than New York's 785.6 km2 (303.3 sq mi.) Imagine that for a SE Asian city--Bigger than New York? :D

Add'l info: cebu pacific air had already announced that it will introduce a direct flight from davao to hong kong and singapore next year (aside from the Davao-Iloilo Flight mentioned by jellygene). and officials from Lufthansa even went to davao last Feb to do a feasibility study. They are eyeing a possible direct service flight from mainland china, singapore and Germany to this beautiful city. Hmmm, just means that davao is one booming city

Ateneo de davao University's College of Law is said to be the 4th Best Law School in the Philippines even better than Ateneo de Manila. Based on the Top Performing Law schools evry Bar Exam... hahaha.

To Pisanu and the rest of the gang, Madayaw nga pag abot sa Davao!

Anonymous said...

Best to go to Davao??... This coming March... Davao festival is coming!!!! Shit can't wait to be back there and go skin dipping....hahaha..of course on a private beach...:P

Anonymous said...

woof! Davao Pride! the cleanest city in the Philippines and one of the most livable cities in Asia! Im proud to be a dabawenyo! woohoo!

Visit davao by August and experience the Kadayawan festiviy- the festival of all festivals!!!

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

Sawasdee Janus and thanks for the first reply. We'd like you to know it is always welcome and appreciated.

Uhm...you're askin for a blog link up? Is your blog new or old enough? I mean, are there lots of articles there? =)

Anonymous said...

i heard from a laborer that there are no criminals in here...

they're being killed one by one...

i also heard the new jerusalem's in davao... lol... i mean, "Jesus is that you? how come you're starting to lose your hair?"

vevero said...

it takes 3 hours travel from General Santos to Davao by airconditioned bus, Davao City ranked # 3 on the Top 20 in 2008 The Best Place to Live in the Philippines... congrats Mayor Duterte!

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