Dragon fruit

One good thing about living in Davao is your access to fresh fruits. You can buy these at your favorite talipapa or at the fruit stall in the mall. Wherever you buy your favorite, you'll get them fresh (though, of course, you might get it cheaper at the talipapa).

And the variety -- you'll be amazed. Aside from durian, you get to try out this exotic fruit. This one's called dragon fruit. It looks like a queso de bola, with its outer red skin just like the waxy covering of edam cheese. You eat the white flesh of the fruit -- best when it's chilled -- and it tastes like a cross between a just-ripe guava and an apple. The flesh, sweet and soft, melts on the tongue. And you eat the tiny black seeds.