Talking about coffee shops recently, a friend and I drifted towards those cafés we hadn’t been frequenting yet. One of which was Miko’s Brew, in Davao, located on Chavez St. (which is more known for lechon than coffee). And then another friend said that this coffee shop actually comes from Tagum, and that this city is now on the rise.
So, off we went to Tagum to check it out, my friend Rodney, his wife Emmy, Karen and myself. We also wanted to have a look at the night market over there.
It took us just over an hour to get to the capital of Davao del Norte from downtown Davao. Davao del Norte, or Davao Province, bounds Davao City to the north and the Agusan provinces beyond. The map here shows the route we took (thanks to Microsoft’s Live Search Maps).
The night market did not disappoint. In fact, we were impressed — it wasn’t what we were expecting. The night market, which happens only on weekends, is a string of barbecue stalls wrapped around the town plaza. But it’s not just a hodge-podge of vendors: the city set up durable, well-built stalls each equipped with a grille and food preparation area. Vendors rent stalls at, get this, ₱50 per day, inclusive of electricity. Beside the stalls are tented stainless-steel long tables for the patrons.
The barbecue bonanza — weekends, from 5:30 PM to 2:00 AM — has been going on for 5 years now, according to the locals. It was the initiative of Tagum’s mayor, reportedly after seeing the night market in somewhere in Thailand. Tagum is lucky to have such a forward-thinking chief executive. Mayor Rey T. Uy clearly has the economic development of his city in mind.
Another enviable development in Tagum is the city hall that’s being constructed now. As you can see in this perspective drawing, the new city hall will look like a proud beacon of Tagum’s bright future. It is scheduled to be completed in September this year.
There does seem to be a feeling of busy-ness in Tagum. Things seem to be looking up out there. While there are still a lot of open spaces, I prefer to think of that as the presence of huge potential. In fact, there are lots of ongoing construction projects, including two big malls. If only Tagum had their own airport, they would surely catch up to Davao and Cagayan de Oro pretty soon.
