Ever since they started roving around the city blocks, talks about these new davao eye candies are circulating fast, first in enthused whispers, and now in open interest and curiosity.

it's davao's new sensation

In one of my previous entries, I mentioned that SM might be putting up a new mall in the city. But that came as a surprise since SM City in Ecoland has a sprawling land behind it covering more than thrice the mall’s current floor space. Why not utilize it?

I don’t know what’s up in a businessman’s mind, but it might as well be true that a petty rivarly between Ayala and SM is on tack. This is just a rumor, but it sounds funny so I’m putting it here. I’ve read somewhere that Henry Sy was not particularly happy when Trinoma opened because it “snatched” most – not some – of SM North’s customers. There is some truth in that though, as some of you who have been to the place may attest.

And so they say, that with the Abreeza coming up (yep! that’s the name of the Ayala Mall), SM just doesn’t want to be left behind. All I knew then was that it will be in Lanang, but specifically where, I just didn’t know yet.

But now I do! The Lanang Golf and Country Club is now being bulldozed off supposedly for the new SM Mall, which for now is called – drum roll pls. – the Davao SM North. At first I can’t believe that they’re actually destroying the golf course for a mall, but I’ve seen it and the old country club is gone. Oh well…

So for the record, 3 new malls are currently being constructed in Davao – Abreeza, Robinsons Cybergate, and “SM North”. These three are all located along the JP. Laurel Avenue and are slated to open two to three years from now.

More…
Sensing perhaps the upcoming competition, Gaisano Mall is actually doing a mall-wide renovation and a massive expansion. In that lot in the middle of Davao Central School and the GMall carpark, the new 7-storey Gaisano mall annex is currently being put up.

On top of that, the main building has finally come into terms with the word aesthetics. Right. The air conditioning tubes traversing the mall corridors and alleys are now out of sight and yellow lights are replacing most of the fluorescent lamps. A small job actually, but looking at how the malls looks now is really laudable.

Victoria? Ha. Nothing for now.

When the news came up that Robinson’s and Ayala will be putting up their malls in the city, I told myself not to get too excited. But as a metro-minded Davaoeno, I can’t help myself but be engrossly hopeful. Now, after months of expectation, it’s finally official! The sites are ready and the plans are all laid down. The construction’s to start soon and there’s certainly no turning back!

finally, after so much hype about the new traffic lights, and its horrible initial attempt to rule the streets last dec 9, davao city now has a classy working LA-based traffic system. The traffic lights are software synchronised which means that they automatically run on their own (given a supply of electricity of course). The density of flow of traffic for each intersection had already been plugged in into these high-tech black boxes such that the time for the color shifts are defined according to the number of cars that passes through each lane.

another interesting feature of the traffic system here is the installation of push button pedestrian capability. if you want to cross the street, all you have to do is push the button, your signal is fed up into the computer, the lights analyse it and finally, the green goes red, and the hand turns into a walking man. sleek, isn’t it?

however, because of this new traffic system, pedestrians now can’t just go strutting their butts anywhere when crossing the streets. they have to really cross using the pedestrian lanes or else they’d be paying a fine for jaywalking. would Php 500 be a worthwhile bet? i don’t think so.

And the autmobiles of course are also subject to much traffic management control. at present, many drivers have been warned to follow strict rules although i am not sure if they’ve started confiscating the licenses. As a result, the automobiles have behaved themselves that at the light of the red blotch, cars really saw to it that they are beyond the pedestrian marks and that they get in line to one of the four distinct lanes (you would appreciate this better if you are on top of a high-rise building such as the finster in ateneo).

and if you think all these things are bringing in curses from the people, nah-ah. surprisingly, almost everyone, pedestrians and drivers alike, seem to be enjoying this new found classy street attitude. although it would still take a few more weeks or months maybe before davaoenos would finally adopt this as a habit, such a change is but a bright light ahead.

Full-grown trees that were balled and planted at the PTA Grounds, which is being developed as a greenbelt park of Davao City, is sprayed with water by firefighters of 911 to get them acclimatized to their new home. The balled trees were donated by Regional Development Council chair Jesus “Chito” V. Ayala. (Sun.Star Davao/Seth Delos Reyes)

it’s finally on the go! the pta green park that i have been ranting about last july has now gained an approved budget of 71 million. not much eh? but that’s only for the fountain, the waterfalls, the pond, the shady plaza, and the promenade. the other facilities, well, might wait. almost all of the trees there will be donated by eden nature park.

to give you a picture of what this park is going to be, let me quote an article from news.balita.ph:

The budget will fund the P71-million Parents-Teacher Association (PTA) Green Belt Development Park

…………….

The 3.5-hectare PTA Park, located along Camus-Palma Gil Streets, would be planted with different species of domestically grown and imported plants and trees.

Based on the proposal, the biggest amount of P7 million was earmarked for the construction of the dancing fountain; construction of waterfalls/retention pond and boardwalk at P6.5 million, construction of Shady Plaza which will be filled with African Tulip Area costing P5.6 million and the construction of the promenade at P5.4 million.

Another feature of the park, are the five tropical rainforests representing Australia and Papua New Guinea, the Philippine, Southeast Asia, South and Central America and Africa and Madagascar.

read that? wow! isn’t that cool?

to get the whole news, you might want to click these sites:

-http://news.balita.ph/html/article.php/20061120171726143

-www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2006/08/04/index.html

about a month ago, noel and i were wondering why some parts of the downtown intersections were being drilled. i thought maybe the city’s putting up new street lamps. in turns out that it’s not. but rather than new lamps, the city’s actually putting up new traffic lights. yep, after maybe years of running your butt to get through the next street without killing yourself, traffic lights are now alive again. i haven’t actually seen one working yet. the posts are ready, and these lights just have be hung. and that would be anytime soon if not tomorrow. great!

a couple of days ago, i found out that the two faces of miss kris aquino have mysteriously vanished from the billboard family along the gov. generoso bridge in bankerohan. only to find out that miss dawn zulueta, stephen manahan, and robin padilla vanished as well. well, i guess the city has finally got a resolution after cesar montano fell and hurt one innocent civilian one windy day a few months back. but nah, i think the city just want to ride the wagon the mmda in manila is presently driving. whatever the reason is, i am grateful for the move. not because i hate miss kris (in fact i love her) or any personality for that matter, but because the steel structures these giant faces cared to attach themselves are already rusted and must have weakened through time. as far as i know, these structures have been there before i even learned what sex was. and that was, 10 years ago?

in a few months, these two new structures will rise in our lovely city:

museo dabawenyo
(near the bonifacio monument, pichon st., fronting colasa’s barbeque)

mindanao folks center
(within Juna subd.)

nice, eh? hehe.

and oh, more on the green park – they say they’re going to put up a dancing fountain like that of sentosa’s. uuyy..astig.

many people said that the ultra durable trash bins that the city purchased were patterned after those in the united states. it was only recently, after watching the family comedy rv, that i confirmed this. totoo pala. at least now we know that the mayor is not spending money on low quality projects. hehe.

speaking of projects, only recently did i also learn about the mayor’s decision to transform the almost barren pta grounds into a luscious green park (geez, it’s such a shame im losing track of some great city updates). he said it’s going to be the city’s version of the famed central park in new york city. although that is quite an imagination, councilor peter lavina would rather say it’s going to be like the old greenbelt at the makati commercial center, which is not at all a bad perspective given the limited space. the more important thing is, it’s going to be in the middle of the city, which is something for a sprawling metro such as ours.

i actually saw the architect’s blueprint on tv and the overall design is quite a marvel. they say efforts are being exhausted to make it world class, equipped with some cultural amenities and art facilities. i heard the over-all budget’s going to be more than a hundred million.

i am really excited about this green park project. it’s high time for davao to have a real park to walk through, not just some dusty and cheaply made open spaces falsely termed as such.

the project has actually started and trees have already been put up in the area. i think the mayor’s pretty serious of finishing this up before the end of the year.

for more info, you might want to visit these sites:
My Own Central Park. Counc. Peter Lavina
PTA will be a park: mayor. Sunstar Davao