In Davao City there is a bare but interesting chillout spot. It lacks a coffee house’s sub-audible house music, stylish chairs, arty wall paper, and limitless mutations of brewed coffee; it lacks a bar grill’s offering of alcoholic beverages and crunchy, deep-fried pulutan; and the place reeks of Davao’s famously malodorous fruit. This is the Magsaysay Fruit Vendor Association market (near Magsaysay Park and Chinatown), a row of stalls selling pomelo, mangostene, marang, durian, and durian-based candies (mostly the Lola Abon’s variety).
“Seriously? We would be spending time there?” I kept my thoughts to myself as our guide drove us to the market around 9 pm. “Please buy whatever it is you want to buy. I need to go back to the hotel room and sleep.” We went to one of the stalls and our guide haggled with the vendor. After a few seconds, the vendor brought out for us red monoblock chairs and table, and then opened a durian with a knife. I looked around and noticed the same thing: between a stall and a van were yuppies seated in monoblock chairs, guffawing while eating durian, and in front of another stall were well-dressed matrons having a subdued conversation, also enjoying their durian. Starbucks this place definitely isn’t. However the hush of the surrounding premises, the breeze of the night air, and the colorful rows of fruits and candies provided an unusual and stimulating environment for evening powwows. I began to feel less peevish.
We were brought back to the hotel after 30 minutes; the guide said she hoped we enjoyed the night trip. I chuckled, still feeling the night breeze, still intoxicated by the durian. “Oo naman. And thank you for the educational tour.”