DAVAO City this time of year is drowning in the scent (or for some, the stench) of ripe durian, the odor so strong that it permeates the air and seeps into every available crack in the city.

But there are many ways to enjoy Davao even if you don?t have the chutzpah to try its trademark fruit. For one, the roads here stretch long and lazy, perfect for a leisurely Sunday drive. On most days, life starts mid-day after people have attended the morning Mass and the streets come alive to the sizzle of street food, colorful trinkets, the smell of tropical fruits, and the touch of a warm breeze.

Downtown there?s the array of food houses from affordable carinderias to elegant cafés, where one can choose to binge on some glitzy downtown French restaurant, or make do with a cup of Bagobo coffee or a couple of bottles of beer.

But if you only have P500 to spare, can you still enjoy a day out in Davao? Why not? A few suggestions:

1. Start the day with an after-jog breakfast of hot creamy sikwati (pure native cocoa) and puto maya (rice cake) for only P15 at the Bankerohan market.

2. Visit the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) in Malagos, home to the Philippine monkey-eating eagle, reptiles and other exotic birds endemic to the Davao region, some 40 kilometers from downtown. For a P50 entrance fee, commune with nature and observe animal and plant life in their natural habitat. To get to the center, get on a ?Hop-on Hop-off? tour van (P45).

3. After this nature trip and halfway back to downtown, get off at Los Amigos in Tugbok District for a sumptuous lunch of either grilled or deep fried hito (catfish) meal (P40). Here, you can choose to catch your own dish, fresh from the pond where they are cultured. Jeepney fare is P20.

5. In Davao, the best panghimagas (dessert) can only be fresh durian for P30 (P15/kg), bought from any of the stalls along the national highway going downtown. Add P7 for jeepney fare.

6. Back in the city by early afternoon (fare: P20), cool down at the People?s Park for a couple of hours and enjoy the man-made falls, the lush trees and bamboo grove, fruit-bearing trees and flowers, and the park?s architectural aesthetics. Free entrance.

7. Just outside the park, indulge in locally-crafted indigenous jewelry. Tribal-inspired necklaces, rings, anklets and other accessories, handmade by mountaineering groups composed mostly of out-of-school youth, sell for as low as P30 and are great pasalubong from Davao.

8. The rest of the afternoon can be spent in Kasagingan, a coffee shop along Torres St., where a number of restaurants and coffee shops are also located. Regular brewed coffee is P40, with unlimited access to wifi. Get there from People?s Park via taxi, for not more than P40.

8. A few steps from Kasagingan are Banoks, which offers a hearty dinner of chicken barbeque and ?overflowing? rice for only P65.

9. And to cap the day, get a bottle of ice-cold beer for as low as P35 at Bakbak, some 15 meters away from Kasagingan.

10. By then you should be longing for a good night?s rest. With P30 left, haggle with a motorcycle driver for the ride back home. ?