Molave is located at Jacinto Street, right between the Ateneo college campus and Export Bank.

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Sometimes, I can’t help but remember the old local restaurants in Davao City during the late 80’s and early 90’s: Barrio Gaisano, Honeybear, Goldies, Merco, Peter Pan, Dennis Burger, DeliHouse, Plaza… the list goes on and on.

Some of these restaurants/ food houses are now gone. Others have defied both time and the arrival of popular fast-food chains/ restaurants – and are still operating today.

Included in this list of old school local restaurants still around is Molave, a small food haven located at Jacinto Street, just right beside the Ateneo College Campus.

Our office is located around this area. But since my budget usually limits me to meals right around 50-60 pesos, I rarely eat at Molave.

Now, I’m not saying that Molave is an expensive restaurant. For a restaurant offering quality foods and services, their prices are actually reasonable.

Anyways, since I was alone for lunch earlier today and had this sudden craving for burger patties, I decided to pass by at Molave. I ordered their sampler number 2, consisting of 2 grilled burger patties, rice, side dish and iced tea. This meal is worth only 115 pesos. The patties are thick and tasty. Walang sinabi ang McDo at Jollibee. Needless to say, it’s definitely a winner (at least for a burger junkie like me).

Based on their menu, Molave’s specialty dish is the greaseless chicken, which I haven’t tried yet. But hopefully, I’ll be able to try that the next time I’m there.

Besides the food, I’m impressed with the hospitality and comfort that the restaurant provides. The waiters are very courteous and friendly. The restaurant itself has a nice interior, complete with interesting decors and comfy chairs.

All these factors help make Molave a good dining place and certainly worth a visit. No wonder why this old school Davao restaurant continues to thrive after all these years.

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The menu

Inside Molave

Sampler 2: of 2 grilled burger patties, rice, side dish and iced tea.

Molave contact details

After months and months of inactivity… it’s time for this blog to make the jump again!

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It’s been five months since I made my last post in this blog. It’s not that I lost interest in blogging, but the lack of material to work with (read: photos) did me in. But even then, even during the long lay-off, this blog was always at the back of my head. Always.

But, someday I will update it again. I knew. Someday it’ll be back. And when that time comes, it’ll be better.

For five months I’ve been thinking that way… until “someday” became “today”.

Anyways, before I move on to the next post, I just want to thank those people who continued supporting this blog despite the prolonged inactivity. I suppose that some of my early readers gave up on this blog already… but I’ll try my very best to bring ‘em back. Each one of them. And just as long as I give them a reason to check out and support this blog again, I know they will.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you one more thing. I have a digital camera already. It’s only of the point-and-shoot variety, but just as long as I can get “OK enough” photographs for this blog, content will no longer be a problem. And this blog will thrive. This blog will live.

And so, please do bookmark “Davao Photoblog (Na!)”, formerly known as “Davao Photoblog (sana)”. In my next few posts, I will show you why you should.

A new, updated version of kadayawan.com is now up and running.

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Just a heads up, peepz.

The official website of the Kadayawan ng Dabaw Festival is now available again to the public. It contains information about the Kadayawan such as press releases, old and new articles, colorful photographs, the official schedule of events, an on-line forum, and more.

The latest version of the site has been uploaded and launched only a few hours ago, so expect more changes, improvements and additional content for the next few days.

Speaking of content, the Kadayawan website team is currently on the look-out for more Kadayawan-related photos and articles… so if you feel like contributing, feel free to email Lench Lanley Guillermo of Digilution (info@digilution.com).

To visit the official website of Kadayawan, simply log on to www.kadayawan.com, or click here.

Thanks for looking!

I passed along Ilustre Street earlier today. Out of curiousity, I decided to check out Amgar Plaza (the small nook in front of Peter Pan) since I haven’t been there for ages. Once there I was very surprised to find out that Goldie Chicken House is still operational.

As you can see, Goldie was my family’s favorite snack house long ago before fastfood giants such as like Jollibee and McDonald’s came over to Davao City. I still vividly remember the old days when my mama would tag me and my siblings along so we could enjoy our favorite fried chicken meal at Goldie’s. Unfortunately, we never heard of the place again since it was temporarily closed down in the early 90’s. It gave me the impression that Goldie closed shop for good.

Anyway, Goldie is quite similar to Chickies & Patties (especially the logo, the prices, the gelatin juice, etc), but I must say that the fried chicken there (Goldie) is so much better. A regular family feast box contains around 7+ pieces of chicken, 2 cups of rice, a small cop of salad and some fries. It is worth only 215 pesos. A larger version of the family feast (probably with more chicken) is worth almost 250 pesos.

Over-all, Goldie offers some great tasting and affordable food. The only thing i don’t like about Goldie is the setting. The inner portion of the place is so hot because it lacks windows and proper ventilation. So if you want to dine there, better do so near the exit/ entrance area.

Goldie Chicken House is located at Amgar Plaza, Illustre Street, just in front of Peter Pan bake shoppe.

As Pinoy Toy Kolektors Forum’s slogan says:” “Look mom, it’s not a toy. It’s a collectible.”

My Story
I’ve always been a frustrated toy collector ever since i was a kid. The characters i wanted were either unavailable or simply too expensive, so i settled with the obscure figures. No duke? I got crystal ball instead. No jazz? No grimlock? Hello gears and cosmos! No he-man? Me gots stinkor!
Anyways i stopped buying toys when i got into High-school, and eventually i gave up my entire collection to my little nephews. Big mistake i know.

I started buying toys again only late last year, concentrating solely on Transformers. After completing the five autobot characters from the TF movie however, i began trying out other toy lines as well, albeit slowly.

Today i have a small toy collection that revolves around my favorite characters as a young boy. I make it a point to enjoy myself with my hobby knowing fully well that this might be short-lived: married life is just lurking around the corner and i’ll probably be forced to stop buying toys again one of these days. But at least the boy in me is somehow satisfied. I guess im ready enough to grow up.

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My Advise
Sometimes having the money is not enough when it comes to getting toys for your little boys. Dads and moms should also pay attention to the characters that their children covet, or else they spend hard earned money on toys that their children wouldn’t be too excited about.

There’s this myth that if you bring your kid over to some store and force him to pick the best available toy there, then that kid will forever be happy and satisfied. Contrary to popular belief, buying toys is not really a one-stop, one-step process. The parents should visit toy department stores around the city, especially SM Toy KingdomDavao and Gaisano Mall Davao. They should ask sales ladies for the availability of certain characters. And in case there are none available in those stores, they should surf the net for more information. And if they want to buy online, there’s always davaosale.com, for starters. And of course ebay.

The bottomline is, if parents want to make their kids really happy, then they should exert extra effort to land the figures they covet, and not just settle with some obscure or crummy toys that their kids don’t want anything to do with. Like I said, making your kids happy requires not just your money, but also effort, patience and determination to see your kids beaming with that big, big smile.

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My apologies again for the prolonged inactivity of this blog. I’ve been too busy these days, plus the camera I ordered from somewhere hasn’t arrived yet. But even then, i assure you all that this blog is here to stay, and consistent updates will be on the way again.. and soon!

And finally, please do visit the Davao Toy Collectors forum (http://dtc.ipbfree.com).

Thanks and peace to everyone.

My sisters and cousin Kaka Pao take time to pose with WALL-E right around the SM cinema section. The life-sized WALL-E cardboard figure can also be seen at Gaisano Mall.

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Talk about good promotion gimmicks. The life-sized WALL-E cardboard figure at SM and Gaisano Mall is certainly building up a lot interest for the upcoming WALL-E movie. Movie-goers constantly gawk at the large cardboard figure, which is seated on a bench opposite Eve, the other robot featured prominently in the movie. And oh by the way, WALL-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-Class.

While Gaisano Mall management pohibits people from sitting on the bench near the WALL-E figure, my sisters and cousin were allowed to sit down beside WALL-E and Eve at SM for a photo-op.

Not to be outdone, the upcoming Iron Man Movie is also building up interest this early, with Iron Man merchandise already being sold around the SM Cinema section. In fact, a friend texted me a while ago that the much-awaited 6″ Iron Man figures just arrived in Davao.

WALL-E is expected to open in Philippine cinemas this August (tagal pa no!) while Iron Man will be up for local viewing by April 30.

Take two!

The graduating class of Davao High School (also known as Davao Provincial High School), 1932. Photo taken four years before Davao’s inauguration as a chartered city in 1936. That same year, the school’s name was appropriately changed to Davao City High School. The school is still operational today, and is now known as Davao City National High School (DCNHS).

Anyway, this photo is owned by Robert Bula, who also sent me the photo of cadets marching in my previous blog entry. The girl with the red mark at left is Mr. Bula’s aunt and previous owner of this photograph, Estelle Torkelson. Mr. Bula adds that back in those days, Davao High School was located at Bolton street just after Magallanes toward the riverside. Many thanks to Mr. Bula and his family for this wonderful photograph.

The July 4th parade of 1931. The place showcased in this image is San Pedro street, and right behind the building at the background is the city hall drive. Marching along are cadets from the Davao High School. To view the larger version of this photo, click here.

I’d like to thank Mr. Robert Bula for sharing with us this classic photo, which is part of his personal collection. This picture was previously owned by his aunt, Estelle Torkelson, who was obviously a good keeper of memorabilia. In fact, the old City Hall photograph that I posted in my blog a month ago was also part of her old collection.

It’s a pity that we have very few classic Davao photographs from the early 1920’s that are readily available to the public. In fact, I myself never chanced upon pre-war Davao photographs before our company got a copy of the old City Hall picture I mentioned earlier from the City Tourism. And this is why I’m so happy and grateful that Mr. Bula shared this to us. Afterall, this photo gave me a glimpse of Davao’s past – and it means so much to me.

Anyway, I’ll be posting another classic photograph tomorrow, also courtesy of Mr. Bula. Again, thank you so much sir Robert!

… and my little sister says: MAGING SA BAHAY MAN O SA LABAS… JUST ENJOY DA SUMMER!

Here’s the second part of my Random Photos feature. For those who missed out on the first part, click here. As always, if you need to re-use these photos for some reason, I’d really appreciate it if you’d inform me first.

Thanks for looking

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Ecoland Area.

Mini-eateries are sprouting like Mushrooms near the Task Force Davao Headquarters and John Paul College.

McArthur High-way, exiting Ecoland.

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Downtown Area.

The busy corner along San Pedro Cathedral.

Boulevard.

Rebeccas’s Berbecue and Eatery. One of the very few Halal BBQ Eateries currently operational in Davao City. It is located in front of Grand Men Seng Hotel.

Bolton Street.

Casino Filipino VIP Club. It is located between the People’s Park and Apo View Hotel.

The famous marker at the Magsaysay Park.

Marina Tuna’s giant add along Bolton Bridge. I really like it when establishments here come up with slogans and promotions related to Davao city.

Ateneo College along Roxas.

Molave Restaurant. I believe this restaurant has been operational since the 80’s. I like their sampler no.2, a meal that consists of two burger patties, a plate of rice, side dish and a glass of iced tea. An excellent meal if you ask me. Anyway, this restaurant is located along Ateneo College. I plan to feature this place in my blog soon.

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Strolling along Ponciano.

The PLDT Office.

Main office of the Davao Light and Power.

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Toy Department store of the Gaisano Mall of Davao… second home for kids and some toy collectors like me. Hehe.

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For some reason, these photos didn’t make it to my Sea Wall/ Baywalk entry last month.

The construction work at Bankerohan Bridge pales in comparison with the rapid expansion activities in Baywalk. It’s a shame.

Sharks!

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I’d like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to those who check out my blog despite the lack of updates lately. I’m currently working on some articles to post in the middle of this week, so watch out for ‘em. Thanks again.

Just when I thought I’ve heard about all the beautiful resorts here or near Davao … along came CRASH LANDING RESORT!

Last Saturday (April 12, 2008), we had the opportunity to visit one of Mindanao’s best kept secrets courtesy of my cousin Kaka Bebe, who just turned a year “wiser” last weekend. Crash Landing Resort is located in Darong, Sta. Cruz, which is not too far away from the confines of Davao City. It takes about 40 minutes or so to reach the place from city proper, depending on traffic conditions.

Crash Landing Resort boasts of a very clean, beautiful atmosphere and consists of a pool, a fishpond, several beautiful cottages, play-things for little kids, among other things. Of all the Davao-based resorts I’ve visited, I can say that Crash Landing is arguably the cleanest, and most well mainatined of them all. Not bad for a small, relatively little-known resort.

Simply put, it’s just an awesome place to spend the weekend in together with your family and friends. My only beef with this place is the absence of a beach… but what the hey, that’s not the management’s fault.

Anyways, posted below are some pictures we’ve taken during our short but fulfilling stay at Crash landing Resort. Please excuse the poor quality of photos, since we used a video cam in taking these pics.

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The MINI PARK. Always makes for a nice stroll.

Small cottages, trees and play things abound. Little wonder why my little nephews loved this place.

The parking area is not far away from this mini-bridge.

The mini-hall where my father delivered a blistering speech about Crash Landing Resort’s need for a more logical name. (Yes, I’m just kidding)

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The Pool

My nephews enjoying the pool.

Mini pool for children.

What it lacks in size, it makes up with its cleanliness.

The mini falls. (Oddly enough, I took a picture of it during the only time it wasn’t running).

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The Pond

The pond is so clean and well executed that one would be tempted to dive in and swim with the fishies. And yes, there are no froggies here (that’s always a plus for me!)

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Our room

This is the room my cousin got for us. From what I’ve been told, it’s worth about 2k/ night.

Facade of the room.

Inside the room.

I like how even the facade of the room is well decorated.

My sister going all-out emo outside our room.

Trees add to the glamour of the place.

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Just some of the other rooms at Crash Landing Resort.

Cottage high-riser. I love it.

Rooms surrounded by a large pond. Very scenic. We had lunch around this area and it’s just a soothing experience.

Mini cottages situated around the mini-park are worth 200php/ day.

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Other Attractions

Beautiful exotic bird wanted a piece of my finger. Naughty bird you are!

Me and my little sister strike a pose near one of the bird cages at the mini park.

Just one of the little play things at the playground.

Visitors can use the ping-pong (pictured above) and billiard tables for a reasonable price.

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B-day celebrant Kaka Bebe with our two nieces.

MR. CHICO
And finally, I will have to include this or else Jenny would be disappointed. (Whoops, I just borrowed Erma’s Line)

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Thanks for looking!