Visit with Brenda

Call it proof that it is a small world, the payoff of networking and/or God's plan that I was assigned to a city on the other side of the world at the same time a girl from my women's bible study group of 10 women is also there!  Yep, I already knew someone in Davao when I got here - beat that.  Brenda and I arranged to meet up for dinner at a local restaurant near her clinic last night, but this is what the weather looked like when I got ready to leave the hotel. 

It was pouring, the power in the hotel actually went off for a minute, which is apparently rare.  I think this may be the tail of the typhoon that hit Manila - don't worry, typhoons don't hit Davao.

I made it to Brenda's neighborhood only to find her entire area had lost power.  I stepped out of the cab into a small river and got soaked up to my calfs - of course, I was wearing jeans, yuck.  Brenda had an umbrella and we went to her house next to the clinic that she shares with 5 other women missionaries.  They tried to show me the place, but it was lit by nothing but candles and flashlights.  The flash on my camera did a pretty good job of lighting the place up and the women were nice enough to let me take pictures.  For those that know Brenda, she has a really cute house and nice roommates. 

Brenda has the bottom bunk



  

Kitchen

Living Room

We decided not to try to go out, since we didn't even know if the restaurant would have power.  The girls were fixing beef stroganoff on the gas stove, so we just stayed and had dinner with everyone at the house.  Brenda promised to take me to local markets to look for pearls and these pretty local wraps that one of her roommates was wearing.  We will just try to watch the weather forecast next time.  It took the cab a lot longer than normal to get me back to the hotel, where I took a shower and washed out my jeans and shoes before warming up with hot tea. 

Mt Apo Weekend

My first weekend in Davao was a busy one.  We started Friday night with a dinner with the Mayor's Office.  I was hoping we would go to the Mayor's residence or City Hall, but we were taken to a nice Chinese restaurant.  The Mayor was unable to attend, but several of her staff and some of our clients came.  As usual, we had a lot of good food passed around the table - I had the best fried squid ever - and finished if off with a local desert, seafood jelly.  We called it an early evening, because the vans to Mt Apo were scheduled for 7am Saturday morning.

Saturday morning the team piled into 2 vans and went about 2 hours up into the mountains to an eco resort at the foothills of Mt Apo. We drove through a lot of banana and mango plantations, where it looked like the locals were growing plastic bags - they protect all produce for export from insects and bats by covering the fruit with plastic bags, even individual mangoes.





Mt Apo Highland Resort



We stopped at our resort, Mt Apo Highlands Resort, to drop off our bags.  The resort is an eco-friendly resort with cabins - 4 bunk beds or 1 "queen" bed and sitting areas underneath.  The showers were separate, but I had more hot water at the eco resort than I typically do at our hotel in Davao City.  We met our local guide Lito and his dog Sherpa before piling into jeeps to start touring

the area.  We actually put 8 people in one of these at one point!

  

Inside Cabin Number 2



Lito and his dog Sherpa







Packed inside the Jeep







The first stop was a local village - Tibolo Village - for demonstrations of local dances, costumes, weaving, cooking and a luncheon of local food.  The team even planted trees as part of a service project.  It was raining, so we couldn't see Mt Apo's peak yet.  We took a ton of pictures here, I've tried to include the best.  There is a local dish, chicken cooked in bamboo, that they are known for that was delicious.


Claire and Juni dancing with Tibolo Village Children

 

Bamboo Bridge and path to village

Tibolo Village



Weaving Demonstration



Local Kids







Ti bolo Village Luncheon



Parhum and Lito planting a tree



Roadside store with HUGE fresh produce



After a pleasant lunch we piled back into the Jeeps and headed to the mountain zipline - of course.  You have to go up a washed up road to the launch spot and not even the Jeeps could pull it off; you could walk in the mud or take a horse.  There were only 3 horses, so I walked - poor choice, the horse riders had it better.  The zipline and cable car were fun and they had a lot of safety harnesses and trained staff.  Too bad the weather hadn't cleared for an even better view.  



Parhum on Horseback

 

The road to the Zipline

Jan on the Zipline

   

Cecile flies away on the Zipline

 

Cable Car View



Civet Coffee

Thank goodness we did not have to walk back down from the zipline.  The jeeps were able to make it to the drop off point and we headed to our next tour stop - Civet Coffee.  If you don't know what Civet coffee is, take a moment and look it up.  The civet is a cat/racoon/monkey - like animal that farmers feed raw coffee to.  The civets, um, process the fruit and leave behind the raw coffee bean.  The farmer can then collect, CLEAN, roast and grind the coffee beans into a premium coffee.  We visited a small civet coffee farm, where we were given samples of civet coffee before heading out to the cages to see the process (clever).  The civet coffee wasn't that bad and the civets were adorable.



Civet Farm



Civet

 

 



Natural Spring Pool at Mt Apo Highlands Resort



We headed back to the resort to swim and start dinner.  There was a natural spring pool, but it was cool water.  The mountains were almost 20 degrees cooler than Davao - it was great.  Several of the team had submitted shopping lists for local dishes they wanted to make for the group.  Some helped prepare ingredients and some worked on eating the food that was prepared.  It was a slow process but the food turned out great.  We had Spanish starters, Indian Veggie Pakodas and Bajjis and fried pork.  Lito also got the bonfire going after a lot of kerosene on the wet wood and we roasted some marshmallows for smores.  We sat around the fire for hours until people started drifting off to their bunk beds. 

Preparing Dinner



Relaxing around the bonfire

Mt Apo

We left the resort around 9am for our hike to a waterfall on Mt Apo.  A lot of the team was tired, but we had no idea what we were in for.....  It was not raining on Sunday and we finally saw Mt Apo - it was impressive.  It takes 2 - 4 days to climb to the top and back, and it is considered an accomplishment to make it to the top.  The Jeeps started down this road that was nothing but muddy ruts through the banana plantations until they stopped and told us we were at the trailhead to the waterfall.  We met up with some more local guides and headed off for what we thought would be a simple hike, we were wrong.



Mt Apo Waterfall



The first indication that this would not be what we expected was when Lito started cutting trees for walking sticks and his hand pointed almost straight down when he told us how steep the trail would be.  That walking stick was a life-saver, I would not have made it without it.  The local guides were there to keep us from falling too much and to help us down the REALLY steep parts.  I don't have any pictures of the trail because I was too busy trying to stay on my feet, which I failed to do several times, sigh. 

I do not know how long the actual trail was, but it seemed a long way, straight down.  When we made it to the waterfall, it was worth it.  The canyon was cool and the waterfall was beautiful.  We played in the water and rested while we tried not to think of the trail back up. 

We finally started back up and it took us a lot longer - our ABV guy Jan literally had to pull me up some parts of the muddy trail.  We stopped a lot and ran out of water.  One of our team even passed out for a moment, it was just so humid.  We finally all made it back to the trail head and we were starving and thirsty and muddy.  The local guides were laughing, some of them had done the trail barefoot or in flip flops while almost pushing people up the trail. 

We climbed back in the jeeps to go look for gatorade and drinks.  You have to watch the video of what happened next.  I particularly like Lito's reassurances right before everything goes wrong....

My jeep got hopelessly stuck, they tried rocking it, pushing it, putting people on the hood, nothing worked.  Thankfully, a local truck backed up the trail and pulled the Jeep out with the help of several people pushing. Even Waya helped push, getting covered in mud up to her knees.  



The truck towing our Jeep is not larger than it appears

We were exhausted when we made it back to the resort - showers and food were the priorities.  Lito cut open fresh coconuts that had been in the cooler and we enjoyed cold coconut milk and pulp.  We packed up and headed back to Davao late in the afternoon.  I will admit, I was so tired I ordered room service, downloaded my pictures and packed up a very large bag of dirty clothes for the laundry before falling asleep early.  It was a great weekend adventure. 



Anna's Last Night

Last night was Anna's last night.  ABV will still be in contact with the team, but one-by-one our "minders" will be leaving us on our own.  Anna has been great - showing us restaurants, arranging transportation, introducing us to our clients, etc.  She will be missed.  So we decided to send her off with a big night out - including Karaoke!

We had a really big thunderstorm roll through around 5, but it was over by 5:15.  The streets of Davao flood after big rainstorms, but the water is gone in a few hours.  It is a little nerve-racking driving through the flooded streets, but no one here even seems to notice (the cabs just slow down a little).

Tiny Kitchen

Waya took the whole group to a local favorite - Tiny Kitchen Restaurant.  The restaurant has a Spanish flair - they even serve paella; but the true draw is the deserts and bakery.  The restaurant is literally TINY - our group of 16 took over almost the entire restaurant.  Everyone ordered something, but as usual, we ended up eating family style passing all the different dishes around.  It was very good and we finished if off with Red Velvet and Carrot Cake.  We also grabbed some breads and cookies to go.




After dinner we went out for Karaoke.  It turns out Thursday night is not a common going out night in Davao, so we had the bar to ourselves.  Some of the team is really good at karaoke and we had a great time.  The bar was small and nice.  We didn't get home until late and some missed breakfast at the hotel :) before having to head off to work today.


Karaoke Night

Durian



     

Durian in Grocery Store

Davao is the home of the Durian fruit.  How do I describe it?  It is a melon size, prickly fruit that smells like bad fruit/garbage (and that is before you open it up).  Literally, you are not allowed to bring Durian fruit onto some forms of public transportation and our hotel does not allow any Durian fruit in the rooms.  An open durian is truly something to smell!  What does it look like?  It looks like bags of banana jello in each quarter of the fruit.  What does it taste like?  Something the consistency of custard that tastes like garlic mixed with onion.  

Durian cut open to "enjoy"

  

Hotel Durian Warning


 


Waya and Jan, from ABV, brought a Durian to the hotel patio for the team to try.  The pictures tell it all, I have one of Cecile and Izaskun trying Durian while Christophe and Kriti watch.  There is even a video of Clair about to throw-up after she tried it, but I don't have it.  There are durian flavored foods everywhere (coffee, ice cream, cakes, cookies), and the team actually likes some of those. 

Christophe, Cecile, Kriti and Izaskun try Durian

Learning the Ropes

Today started with Belgium chocolate, so it was already better than yesterday.  The team agreed to bring a candy from their country to share with the team and this morning I got chocolate from Johan, who of course is from Belgium.

 

My workspace for now

I packed snacks, brought my own toilet paper to the office and didn't wear high heels - it was a much better day.  I wanted to show you a little of where I work.  The office is about a dozen cubicles and a few desks, but no spare room - so they put us in their president's office where there is a conference table.  The Internet connection is usually better than what I get at the hotel.  Anna and Waya stopped by to check on how we were settling in today and we gave our general idea of the project plan. 





For lunch we went to the mall, where Padma grabbed a salad and I tried a place called Chow King, it wasn't bad.  I had to buy sunglasses, I left home and came to an island near the equator without packing my sunglasses - yeah, yeah, yeah, what was in the two suitcases I brought?  We also stopped in a cute bookstore that had postcards of everywhere in the Philippines, EXCEPT Davao, good grief!

Chow King

After work most of the team went to a Thai restaurant to look for vegetarian food for some of the team, but it was really good food for even the meat lovers.  Some of the professors from the University of Mindanao and some of our client contacts joined us.  We ate family style, everyone trying a little of everything.  We had a good time, the team has really bonded and I'm sure we were really loud, but entertaining.  The bill came and we ended up collecting almost double the bill from the table somehow - the food here is sooo cheap. 

What am I doing now?  Well, I'm sitting in my comfy bed, blogging, while watching Eat, Pray, Love on HBO(yeah, I have HBO here).  A storm is starting, there is a light rain outside with some occasional lightning. 

First Day of Work

Tuesday was our first day with our clients in their respective offices.  Padma and I were lucky enough to have Anna from ABV take us to our client site today.  The cab ride there is about 80 pesos or 2 US dollars and takes about 10 minutes.  We might even try to figure out a Jeepny route to work, but we will have to be careful with our work clothes. 

Our office is close to a mall with a lot of restaurants for lunch options, UNLESS you are a vegetarian.  My coworker went from restaurant to restaurant looking for vegetarian options until we gave up and ate at a bakery.  Filippino dishes seem to almost always have meat - chicken, seafood, beef, pork, etc....

It was a long day at the office, we actually had an interview at the client site with one of their vendors at 5 (which means he showed up at 5:30, per Filippino time).  We didn't get home until 6:30ish and I was exhausted.

It immediately started raining and some of the team ended up on the hotel patio for dinner rather than brave the rain looking for a hotel.  Here are some pictures of the team on the hotel patio and the rain, enjoy.


CSC Team on the Patio



Kriti, Christophe, Johan and Claire



     

Sarah and Kriti



Rain running off the patio roof



Add caption



My jet-lag is still improving, I stayed up until 10pm and was able to sleep until 5am (small victories).  I also got in touch with Brenda from my Women's Bible study back home - she is here in Davao studying midwifery.  We are trying to set up a time to meet up.

Client Orientation and Mayor Sara

Monday the team went to the University of Mindanao for a meeting between the IBM team and all our local clients.  We each gave a brief introduction of ourselves, then the clients gave us an overview of their businesses and some of the plans they have for our time here.

"Filipino" business time is much more relaxed than I am used to.  Everyone arrives after the agreed upon start time, and there is almost mandatory socializing and mingling before any work begins.  This will spoil me and take some readjustment when I return to the US.  
 

Lunch at the University of Mindanao



We all were starving by the time the introductory presentations were completed and the University served my favorite meal in the Philippines so far.  We had Blue Marlin in mango chutney, Bam-e noodles and a beef in gravy over rice.  I went back for seconds with no shame and we even got chocolate cake for desert.

Padma and I met with the client we will be working with during lunch - Mary Anne.  Mary Anne informed us that there was a transportation strike in Davao on Monday, so her office was closing early and we could wait until tomorrow to report to work.  She gave us her business card and told us where the office is located.  We also briefly talked about what she is really hoping to accomplish with our time.

After lunch we were taken to meet with the Mayor of Davao City, Mayor Sara - yep, Sara.  We arrived around 2pm and city hall was packed.  Monday is the only day the Mayor is typically in her office in the city to hear from the people and perform wedding ceremonies.  The staff was kind enough to get us chairs and water while we waited.  The Mayor's schedule kept us waiting, so the City Administrator put us in a conference room and met with us.  She was really nice and excited to get our initial impressions of Davao.  She even had her staff go out and get us ice cream. One of my teammates, Christophe, told her he is already planning on trying to stay in Davao and we do not know if he is joking or not. 



Mayor Sara

We finally met with the Mayor and she is my age!  We watched her in a meeting before we got a few minutes of her time.  She asked our team some questions, welcomed us and posed for pictures before we left. 

Lesson of the day: Do not assume a bathroom outside of the hotel will have toilet paper or hand soap.  I do not mean they are out of stock, I mean they were never there to begin with.