Vendor's in my Subdivision

Category: Vendor's in my Subdivision.

I live in Dona Paz Subdivision, Old Airport Road, km-9, Sasa, Davao City. It is not a gated and guarded subdivision. It is a Middle-Class Filipino Subdivision. It is a small subdivision with about two hundred lots. I am the only full time foreigner living here.

Most of the vendor's in my area come from Samal Island or from Panacan. They all seem to start each day at the Public Market at km-11 and that is also where the ferry from Samal Island is.

I do not know if I would consider myself lucky or unlucky. If I wanted to ever sleep in past 6am I would have to say that I am unlucky. It is probably a good thing that I do not sleep much and up most mornings at 3am. Most vendor's shout at the top of their lungs or have some type of horn or loud speaker that would wake the dead. The parade of vendor's start in my subdivision at 5:45am.

The first would be the Pandesal kids. We did have six kids selling Pandesal until Lemon Drop Bakery open. Most mornings there are two walking and one on a bike. They make the rounds until about 6:30am. At 6am is the start of the Fish Vendor's. On a normal morning there are six guys and two ladies. These people are very loud and I can hear them coming about three blocks away. A neighbor has brought from them before so they all stop and shout for about five minutes until some one tells them not today.

At 6:30am is the two kids selling eggs. Hard to believe how many flats of eggs these kids can carry. Most of the time they carry 8 to 12 flats of eggs. Next would be the Snack Guy who shouts and also has a very loud horn. Then we have the guy on the motorcycle with four large baskets that sells Bake Goods to all the Sara-Sara stores. Next would be the guy selling Calamansi and the two ladies selling Fruit and Veggies. The ladies are a pain in the butt. They do not take no for an answer. They sell their products for twice the price that I can buy them at the market.

It is now about 8am and have had about a 30 minute break. Here comes the junk vendor's. Their are on most days four different guys that buy glass bottles, plastic, cans and metal. Another break in the action until about 9:30am. Now we have the Shoe Repairman and the Electric Repairman. The shoe guy is good and cheap. The electric guy seems to only want to repair electric fans. He also has a loud speaker that has a pre-recorder message on it. One day in the future I can see a very big rock landing on his head. At 10am here comes the Knife Sharper guy with the modified bicycle frame with a grinding wheel mounted to it. If you want a good knife made bad give it to him.

At 10 am is the parade of Selecta and Nestle Ice Cream guys on their three wheel carts. They play some very loud music. Their prices are also out of this world.

Between 10:30am and 1pm is a good time for a nap. At 1pm another Vegetable Lady and the Broom Vendor. At 3pm the Corn Lady and the Drink (Taho) Guy. The Corn Lady never misses a day and you can set your watch that it is 3pm. Now the Fish Guy on the motorcycle with the loud speaker and the Fish Guy in the multicab with the loud speaker. Then at around 8:30pm the Balut Vendor's start their rounds until about 10pm.

Once or twice a week we have two guys selling CD's and DVD's. Every other day we have a guy selling knives. Two or three times a month one guy selling bamboo shades and one guy selling furniture. I probably missed a few, but that is most of them.

We have a store so we get the coke, beer, junk food, soap people and many others each week trying to sell us something. Then we have the normal run of beggars each day. I think I need a vacation or a trip to the mountains for a week or two, make that three or four.