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Davao City: Advice
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What advice would you give to someone who is moving to Davao City, Philippines?
mrsegovia
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What advice would you give to someone who is moving to Davao City, Philippines?
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Davao’s not a bad place to live, and as others have said, it’s a reasonably safe city. Apparently it’s number 4 or 5 in Asia Pacific, so that’s not bad, considering it was far worse before Duterte took over. If you are an expat and not a Pinoy, you will notice many things that are not up to scratch here. The public transport is abysmal, and consists of around a million multicabs and jeepneys crowding every other vehicle off the road. If you think that waiting 15min for a bus anywhere else in the world is acceptable, you will not like having 20 of them every minute here in Davao, or being hemmed in by 40 of them who will not let you out… Secondly, the cabling hanging from the posts in the streets is a constant eyesore. Pinoys don’t notice it, but I do and it’s dire. Why not bury it, especially as the water company are digging up all the roads at the moment? Without – quite pleasant (removed with software) With – not pleasant at all Pavements – careful you don’t break your ankle. Often non-existent. Driving: Abysmal… say no more; it wasn’t bad 5–6 years ago, but is getting worse by the day. Prices/food: Not bad compared to other parts of Asia Pacific or the west, but fresh vegetables are hard to come by at any quality. You can only get large baking potatoes in Robinsons or the wet markets. Bell peppers are the ones with tough skins, again Robinsons are the only ones that sell capsicum – at a price. Tomatoes are not good at all – most are green, and the red ones are watery and tasteless. You can better ones at around P210/kg, but that’s twice what lovely vine tomatoes would cost you in KL for instance. If you are a Brit, forget Marmite, Bovril, Branston Pickle, Birds Custard Powder, stuffing mix (make your own, it’s better), bread sauce (again make your own, it’s better) and – until recently – bread without half a kilo of sugar per loaf! After 7 years here SM supermarkets have at last started to sell sugar-free bread – herby ones, focaccia, different wheaty types and ciabatta etc. It’s been a long time coming… Otherwise you can get nice bread in Swiss Deli, along with English sausages and ham. Pork and chicken are dirt cheap and good quality. “Lechon” is a local speciality which you can get too much of. It’s a spit-roasted pig. Restaurants: I would hazard a guess that 98.99% of restaurants are “Pinoy Favourites” – all selling the same stuff without any variation. It’s what the locals love and my Filipina family always order the same stuff every time. There is a good Vietnamese (the Hanoi in Abreeza Mall) and one in a hawker centre near Damosa. A good Chinese at Victoria and also at Lanang, where you can get Xiao Long Bao. I haven’t yet found any Indian restaurant worth the name – still looking. There is no Asian supermarket – a money making opportunity for sure if you are in the business, can’t fail! There are some good/reasonable Japanese, but none are a patch on the variety in KL for instance. Yellow Pages and the Internet are useless at finding services. It seems businesses haven’t caught on to putting their names in either. You get “olx” and that’s about it, and you’ll be lucky if you find what you are looking for. You need to have someone recommend for you. On the good side are the people, police and army, the latter two making more of a presence these days in Martial Law. All are polite, respectful and cheerful; they often like to chat when they see you are not filipino. Expect if you are a westerner with a filipina wife to be asked everywhere if you have a “mestiza” baby. Shop girls, immigration girls, women in the street, City Hall, local friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends, all ask the same. Even the girls in the bank and on the checkout ask the same thing! If you have one, produce him/her and expect a lot of cooing and “guapa”. When Davao gets a bit to hot and crowded, take the ferry over to Samal Island and go to one of the beach resorts there. There are not many – if at all – public beaches, but the resorts are usually in good condition. We have a rest house building on the island – check out airbnb in around 6 months time! Ideal for mountain bikers as it’s up in the hills. An island-hopping cruise is a nice day out as well. Bars? Dunno, not into bars or bar girls, if they even exist here as I have never seen any… In summary I like it here, and wouldn’t consider anywhere else in Philippines except perhaps Palawan Island, but that’s probably a bit too rural even for me…
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As a British man who’s lived in Davao for almost two years, I’d say that moving to Davao is quite straightforward. That said, I’ve travelled and lived quite extensively around this part of the world in the last five years. By and large it’s a very safe city, generally honest people (I can count on less than one hand how many times I’ve been ripped off) and very friendly and welcoming. Normal levels of culture shock but nothing extraordinary. I adjusted quite quickly. The vast number of jeepneys and multicabs will confuse you at first, will probably anger you if you drive for any period of time, but are actually quite straightforward once you get to know the routes. Other than that, they’re jeepneys, not much different to anywhere else in the country. I use them regularly with no problem. Very helpful if you know a bit of lingo, but they’ll generally get the message. Taxis are ubiquitous, and drivers are honest. Cheap by western standards though not advisable on a budget. Walking: don’t bother. As a previous answer says, footpaths are crumbling at best, non-existent at worst, and the locals will be confused – they will take a ride 300m up the road. Took some getting used to. Home comforts: you can find them all in any of the malls, especially GMall Bajada and at either of the SM malls. As with the rest of the country, malls count as entertainment, they have aircon, and you can find any type of food you’re looking for. Well, most of the time. For a quick bite, I recommend the small food kiosks. They’re in the basement and fourth floor of GMall Bajada. These are cheap, quick, and generally tasty. Western food: try SnR (membership shopping) or Swiss Deli, helpfully located opposite each other just out from NCCC Matina. They’re on the main highway, you’ll find them. You can find most of what you’re looking for, comparable to any city of this size, but don’t expect as much of a range or as high quality as in Manila, for example, especially if you’re looking for something very specific. Bars: there’s open air bars at MTS (Matina Town Square) and aircon bars at Brick Lane Square in Obrero. Those are your two big compounds, there are a few others but those two are the most central. Just remember that you can’t drink after 1am and you can’t smoke in the streets. But my biggest piece of advice: if you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to escape the city once a month or so. There’s something about it that will drive you mad after too long inside, cabin fever perhaps. Luckily there’s plenty of options that are close by: Beaches at Samal, a 10 minute ferry ride from Sasa wharfEven better (in my opinion) beaches on Talikud Island, a ferry ride from Santa Ana wharf right by Magsaysay ParkMountains at Buda. Seagull Mountain Resort is a bit overpriced but very accessible (buses will stop there) – otherwise you might need your own transport. Great to escape the heat of the city.All the best!