9th April 2016 - up on the hard - Mall Day in Davao

Saturday 9^th April 2016

Back on 2XS today, perched up above the slipyard, with a merciful little breeze blowing and all fans whirring.  We are right above Wiksun, Kjartan’s yacht, and next to Aziza, John’s catamaran. 

They are constantly in our thoughts.

Last night we had a barking dog not far from our little blue cabin…It did not stop for a single moment, not until about 5am when, presumably satisfied with its noisemaking ability, it fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.  (Or somebody put a pillow over its poor crazed head…)

My day in town was very successful, and totally exhausting…Davao is big, noisy and HOT!!  I darted around in the little jeepney vans, from G Mall to Victoria Plaza to SM Mall, achieving small victories in each place.  G Mall was my first port of call.  I managed to get a new screen protector for Pete’s poor little iPad – it was almost completely opaque with dirt, scratches, wear and tear.  I don’t know how he could see anything at all.  Now it is all gleaming and clear.  Not sure if he is quite as happy as I would be – he is possibly not QUITE as devotedly attached to his iDevices as I am…

I was also trying to find a place to get new calling cards printed – we only have 7 of our original 500 from Sandakhan left.  Hmmm…I was directed this way and that through this large crowded noisy mall and it started to get more and more oppressive and ghastly…The escalators weren’t working; the lights were dimming; the aircon was off… Time to leave!!

Victoria Plaza is the oldest and most oldfashioned of the Davao malls.  But I had some hopes of finding a birthday present for Pete – success!  All will be revealed on 28^th April…The kindly shopkeeper, when I asked , without much hope, for calling card printers, said, “Yes of course.  Go down the end of the mall to the groceries and you will find a stall which prints stickers and cards.”  Bear in mind I have asked about 50 people in many different locations and they have all said, blankly, “No have, ma’am.”  So I was a bit doubtful but I followed his instructions and found two lovely young men called Bing and Dingdong – they scanned my sample card and said 200 would be ready this afternoon!!  Thrilled to bits!  But not thrilled enough to wait out the hours in Victoria Mall…I will go back to Bing and Dingdong on Monday.