"Taga-Dabaw Gyud": The Classic Davao Life

This is a sequel to my previous post: Classic Davao "Eats". The title above basically translates to “Certified Davaoeño” or literally “Genuinely from Davao”. If you grew up in Davao City back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s then the following blast from the past will put a smile on your face…

SHOPPING:
Davao City back in the ‘80s didn’t have malls but there were already a lot of department stores such as Gaisano Ilustre, Felcris, Mantex, and Datu Complex which probably had the very first escalator among all of these retail outlets, and then there was the old NCCC in Uyanguren, infamous for the urban legend about a half-man half-snake hiding underneath the women’s apparel fitting room.

Urban legend has it that this creature was actually the child of the owner and that it allegedly excretes GOLD which explains all the wealth of the family. And to make the creature keep on depositing Golden Stool, the family actually kept it inside the fitting rooms to feast on unknowing customers. Hahaha! Davaoeños are so creative and imaginative, don’t you agree?

For high end grocery items, we go to Park N’ Shop and for imported brands of toys, clothes, shoes, perfume and other things you can only learn on magazines, Davao’s haven for fine living was A&M, our version of Rustan’s. It was definitely tagged as “sosyal”. When you get a gift presented in the signature A&M gift wrap or bag, you were to be ogled at. I remember that it was the only store where I found complete and new editions of the toys I wanted that time: Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, and of course the latest Barbie models.

A&M closed down when malls started growing in Davao City. This is what's left of the original building. I remember that their window treatments back then had a Rustan's feel. [photo source]

MOVIES:
If New York’s Broadway Avenue had musicals, Davao’s Claveria Street had movies (double program pa!) Movie houses literally lined up that street: Eagle, Galaxy, Garmon, Lawaan, Queens, and Odeon to name a few. I think it was either Eagle or Galaxy that had the most upscale reputation. Of course, who could ever forget the Classic Davao movie house tagline: Relax and See a Movie! :-)

[photo source]

What's left of the old movie houses...

NIGHTLIFE:
I don’t have a single clue where to go now if you ask me about current “gimikan” or the happ’ning clubs in Davao City. BUT if you were to ask me saan kami nag-di-disco dati (hahaha), then that would have to be either Acropolis or Spams (for the older set)! I remember the first time I was able to go inside Acropolis – I was in Grade 6! Can you believe that? Our classmate Jeremiah Jaro had the place closed for his private 12th Birthday Party! And then, I was able to frequent the "disco" during High School because my next door neighbor’s dad always took us there. He was THAT open-minded. We were only 15! Well, I guess there was no such thing as “minors” back then.

That's my Ninang Babes, the fashionably fabulous Optometrist.
Posing galore @ the Gap Farm Resort. Circa early '80s.

WEEKEND FUN:
The Land of Promise A.K.A the Gap Farm Resort was a default picnic getaway because it was the nearest place to go to. Sliding down the giant letters that spelled out “Land of Promise”… posing with the stone sculptures of farm & zoo animals in parade… enjoying the trickle of rain water coming from the giant carabao’s ass that will greet you at the entrance… finding the one-eyed kapre named Cyclop inside the man-made WW2 cave… doing the Nestea splash on the swimming pool… ahhh, what’s a Davao Childhood without the Gap Farm Resort?


Left Photo: That's me with Jaku, my Ninong Joey Ayala's son. I think we just saw CYCLOP, the one-eyed giant monster hence the little boy cried. I was just catatonic. :p
Right Photo: Years later, my sister Marla and I fighting over who gets to take a photo with the turkey first. Hahaha!

The Times Beach has been the most accessible beach in the city since time immemorial but it already lost its glory in the late ‘80s. Before Samal Island became more open to the public, families would drive up to Toril to have an overnight stay at Villa Victoria Beach Resort. This was the only resort that had air-conditioned cottages during the ‘80s. Then in the early ‘90s, the Durezas built Seagull Beach Resort. Speaker Dureza's daughter Liza (Ning) was my classmate that time.One night I lied to my father about having an overnight lay-outing session for the School Paper. The reality was Ning invited our barkada to have a slumber sparty at their family's newly built all-white beach house on Seagull, which was still exclusive to the family at that time. (Yeah, I was quite precocious when I was a kid. Sorry Pa.)

And if we didn’t fancy the sea, we would ask our parents to take us Roller Skating in Magsaysay Skating Rink or to that earlier skating rink near Ecoland. Gosh, I forgot the name of that place. And then for bowling nights, Doverlanes was the most popular joint. And then in the early '90s, Sonicboom was our primitive version of the video game arcade.

YOU ARE TAGA-DABAW GYUD…
…When you had your studio portraits done in Cesar’s Portrait, and most of your Yearbook Photos (in Ateneo) were taken by Chiaw Photography or Bobby Razon.

Our 1981 Family Portrait taken at Cesar's Portrait.
See the trademark logo on the bottom right part of the picture.

And then these yearbooks were printed by no other than Tesoro’s Printing Press and later on Midtown Printing Press took most of the Ateneo accounts.

…When your summer vacations meant being enrolled in any of the following summer schools: Locsin’s Dance Studio, Fernandez School of Music, Kiddie Math and Speech Power. My mom actually enrolled me in ballet and advance math! Whew talk about “relaxing” during school break.

…When you know what this phrase means, “After LQ… QL na” (wink wink) :-)

How about you? Are you a fellow Taga-Dabaw Gyud? Then tell the world why it was awesome growing up in the Land of Promise back in the ‘80s!