Cruz-Busto: Rediscovering Davao

Sunday, January 16, 2011

FOR six days in December last year, I was in Davao with my eight-year-old son. My husband could not join us because he had flights lined up before and after Christmas Day. So, it was just me and my son who travelled to spend Christmas in Davao. The last time we spent the Christmas holiday in Davao was three years ago.

A month before December, I sought permission from my boss to spend almost a week in Davao citing my mother's condition because our profession allows us only to choose whether we are going for either a Christmas or a New Year's break. We cannot have both holidays off. Good thing, my boss empathizes and understands that my mother lives down South and the travel alone would already entail time.

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I had to get our plane tickets a month before to get discount for early booking. Thus, coming home to Davao for the Christmas felt good because there were no work-related phone calls, only calls from my customers from our health and wellness business.

The last time I brought my son to Davao was when he was still a toddler who had little grasp of life. Recently though, I was surprised how grown up he has become in just two years. He has become so inquisitive that he did not run out of questions from the moment my husband drove us to NAIA Terminal 2, up until we left Metro Manila. I tried hard to answer all of his questions even if I almost ran out of patience answering his whys, whats and hows.

But definitely, it indeed felt good to be in Davao to see my mother who, thank God, has considerably improved since I last saw her in June last year. While my usual conversationalist mother now can only convey her feelings by blinking her eyes or by gently gripping our hands with her left hand, my siblings and I consider it a big improvement considering that she could hardly communicate with anybody a few months back. Though she gets most of her nourishment through nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding, she could also now eat baby food through her mouth.

My mother could also now focus her gaze at us and other people, unlike before when she would just stare blankly at the empty wall or ceiling most of the time. While my son and my two young nephews were surprised at their grandmother's condition (the last time they saw their lola was in February 2010, and she was much stronger then), they nonetheless sang her songs of joy, prayed, read her verses in the Bible, as well as tried their best to talk to her.

Needless to say, our trip to Davao was not only spent with our mother and father, it was also a much awaited vacation for my son and his cousins. There were many places to visit. And now that the three boys are all older, they have a better appreciation of their surroundings and outdoor activities which they could not easily do here in Manila.

In Manila, we could not go to the beach and be back home by dinner once we are done swimming. In Davao, we would go swimming at the white sand beach of Paradise Island in Samal, and get back home all within three hours. Travel time alone anywhere in Metro Manila takes about 30 minutes to one hour, how much more for resorts in nearby provinces like Batangas, Laguna and Subic, where beaches are usually found.

The kids had as much fun at the Crocodile Farm which has added more fun stuff for everybody, including giant inflatable balls where individuals are strapped inside the really big ball and pushed and rolled down to the ground from an elevated surface. A similar sized ball can also be found in a man-made pond, this time; however, people can move as freely as possible for ten minutes before they come out of the balls profusely sweating.

Children never cease to amaze me with their high energy level; they never seem to tire in doing a lot of stuff. We literally toured the Crocodile Park under the scorching heat of the sun and most of the times, I would tell my son to cut short our walks and he frowns because I think I was being a kill joy. I told him I have seen the park a dozen times hehehe.

My siblings and I also brought the children to the zipline at the Zip City hill top. While I was not really scared of heights, I did not want the kids to go through the zipline when I saw the height they would be crossing, although my Tita Deng said that was peanuts compared to the ones found in Kapatagan and Manolo Fortich in Cagayan de Oro. But fearless the kids were, they went ahead and were so exhilarated and wanted to do it again and again.

In between our numerous activities, there was also food, food and more food. From the biggest pizza to Davao's famous chicken barbecues, the three boys tried them all. And yes, for food, we would like to eat over and over because not only because it tastes of home, but they cost much, much less than here in Manila.

Davao is, indeed, as the kids would say major fun, fun and fun. The three boys are looking forward to our next visit.