Grabe Kalami Davao!

Among the many things that you look forward to, even on a real quick trip, is the abundance of food that you’ll get to try and enjoy. For one, trying on food of other regions or even countries is like reveling on their culture and taking them all in.

In my re-acquaintance with Davao, one fascinating place called Aling Foping’s Halo-Halo wowed me. By now, I think you already know that every province has its own version of the halo-halo. This one’s a bit different—and that’s a good thing. With Jairus and Davao’s finest (woot!) Anna and Candice, we went to this long stretch that gives away a form wherein you can tick at least 6 choices of halo-halo ingredients. Cool huh? Then there’s the famous durian halo-halo which you can enjoy at P105 with the durian ice cream, durian jam and nata de coco and pinipig. I think the magic really is in the crushed ice. It was so expertly done, you’ll enjoy every bit of it.

Salivating now? Just a couple steps away, Aling Foping’s Bibingka is just waiting to be discovered. At P50 for the small bibingka at P80 for the bigger one, you’ll enjoy one of the tastiest versions of the bibingka. Gosh, Christmas is so near!

Then come dinner time, it was one of my favorite things about Davao. We trooped all the way to Rizal Street where you can find the Oboza ancestral house. Before dinner plates and wine glasses came clanking at the dinner table, Leo, Jairus, KP and I were honored to a fascinating display of traditional old Davao architecture.

For appetizers, I enjoyed the shrimp in crab sauce, which is a well-balanced, modified version of gambas. Its garlic infused oil gives off that velvety un-overpowering sauce that surprised me. This leads us to the main course, I ordered the lengua estofada in its generous serving with the chorizo rice that can stand alone as a meal. Then there’s the Cellar de Oboza’s version of the kare-kare that challenged our tummies because the serving of plates seemed endless. This, I say, is one of the quickest but most filling trips I’ve ever been in and I’ll make sure, next time, it won’t be just over night.

Help me guess the real name of Aling Foping! 

With Jairus Ferrer (Yes, he's taller than me!)

Chu chu train! Check out the concept for the halo-halo stand.

Parang election time!

Siguro next time parang PCOS machine na! Hehehe

Ready for our votes! With me are Candice, Anna & Jairus.

Pwede ding lotto!

Leche flan and ube, a must for my halo-halo!

More selections!

Only in Davao!

Hungry ladies.

It looks old but it's not.

The ice maker is really one of a kind!

Trying! Hehe

Finished product! With ube ice cream on top! Special!

Happy Jairus!

Happier Anna!

Happiest Candice!

Love the prices!

Reason for me to come back!

After halo-halo, it's bibingka time!

Pajulit-julit ang look!

Grabe the price!

This is how they cook their bibingka - the Davao way!

Finished product! Grabe kalami!

Dinner time!

Hands down! The Oboza architecture is one of the most well-kept and greatly-maintained ancestral homes in all of Davao--make that in all of the Philippines.

From a home kept in pristine condition this was turned into a French food fare destination.

Built in 1929, atop this architectural nirvana is Claude’s Le Café de Ville.

From what I heard, this converted “silong”, that used to be a house help quarters, was transformed into what we call now as the Cellar de Oboza. Run by couple Vince Arenas and Tricie Pengson-Arenas, it's a good find for those of you who are looking for a revisited take on Filipino food fares.

Check out the longganisa rice and lengua!

With Leo, Jairus, KP, Rodney, Arianna, Rochelle, Candice & Anna.

Same group, different side lang.

The Vice Mayor of Mati City Carlo Rabat