Davao, Protection / Ornamentation

Taking off from the photos of ornamental protection in Manila, here are some from Davao.

Iron patterns.

Some of the most "contemporary" grilling I've ever seen.

Wrought iron, curvy shit topped with sharksfin climbing deterrent and vertical brick-like pattern.

Like rays of a sun.

Bamboo wallage to protect private space, with cross-section accent.

My favorite wrought-iron gate in the world.

A Somber Night At The Carinderia

The night before the execution of three Filipino drug mules in China, we were eating lemongrass-infused mongo soup and watching the news in our favorite Davao carinderia. All three were from Davao, so there was special interest among the proprietress and her regulars.









And we walked home quietly, pondering the notion of execution.

The Lost Vegetable Siding

Diced cucumber beside deep-fried eggs.

One thing that amazed us about Thailand was the constant small "salads" that accompanied oily, cheap, fried street meat. In the Philippines, we still experience this sporadically: the achara relish or vinegared radish alongside grilled chicken, the raw mustasa leaves with deep-fried fish, and so on. We've seen it more in the province and in mid-sized Filipino chains than on the street, where costs are kept low.


Seaweed, cucumber, egg.

In Davao, where the wet markets are vibrant, huge, and relatively cheap (with a bulk of Manila's vegetables coming from Mindanao), there are vegetable sidings served with those balls of deep-fried eggs in orange batter. Cucumber, either alone or with guso, an edible seaweed, can be placed on your paper plate, and the available vinegar may be poured over to make a flavor we are all familliar with.

Idle Matmaking

A cigarette and snack food vendor outside a clothes shop in Davao's Chinatown creates a handmade mat out of scrap cloth.


The eye-catching mat was (unfortunately) not for sale, and for personal use only.


The lady used old clothes from her home, varying the colors as unique scraps ran out. The result is random but beautiful.


The technique, she said, is similar to crochet. Care must be taken to cut the strips uniformly.


The whole process seemed therapeutic and a worthy use of time.

Davao Fruit Vending Norms

Davao fruit vendors are selling, these days, predominantly unripe mango and papaya. Most are sold from bicycles or motorbikes. They are displayed atop carts in various ways.

Some have strips of glass installed and arrange the bags of fruit in between:



Some nestle their goods in egg carton depressions:





Still others have rows of barbeque sticks coming out through styrofoam or cardboard boxes, and rest their fruit in between:





The sauces and condiments they use are similar to Manila, with some variations.

A choice between plain fine salt (left), or (right) rock salt pre-mixed with bagoong (fish sauce):



And the most bizarre abomination yet, bagoong pre-mixed with banana ketchup:

Egg Carton Insulation

Egg cartons as carinderia hot pads. Why not?

Makeshift Muscles, Part III

Improvised weights are all over the country. Oil and vinegar containers are cut and filled with concrete. Similar sightings here and here.


Poured concrete weights by a kitchen in Davao City, dumbbell version.

Keep Distance, Don't Keep Distance.

An obscene mudguard.

Davao Folk Typography

Helmet Parking