Linda's Special Durian Candy

Matina probably has the largest concentration when it comes to shops selling durian candies.

The most popular is Lola Abon's Durian Candy located at 23 San Miguel Village. Thanks to this shop's popularity, a number of other durian candy makers have set up shop in San Miguel.

Julpha did not bring us there, however. She brought us instead to Linda's Special Durian Candy at 26 San Antonio Village.

Linda's is popular among Davaoenos, and some swear her candies are better than Lola Abon's. The durian bar in particular has chewy durian bits. If you love the durian fruit, you'll love the durian bar. The shop is not easy to find, however. If people you ask don't know the place, just ask where the basketball court is in San Antonio Village. You'll find Linda's nearby. It is only a couple of blocks from the main road if you take public transportation.

The shop is owned by Erlinda Y. Ibanez, and it is a quaint one. The living room serves as the store, with the candies at one corner and the cashier's booth near the front door. A pile of baskets are near the candy shelves for use of the candy shopper. The cashier's booth has some jewelry displayed under the glass, and the rest of the living room is piled up with bags and giant stuffed tigers that you wonder if she sells them as well. The only free space would probably be the sofa. On the wall near the door, you'll find photos of celebrities/actors having their pictures taken at the shop ... which means that the place is popular among non-Davaoenos as well.

The candies here sell fast, and we had to wait for a newly made batch to be packed. For candies, you'll find durian yemas and durian sticks apart from the durian bars. They also have langka yemas. If I didn't worry about packing the stuff for the trip back to Manila, I would have bought durian tarts or even the pies as well. I bought PHP900 worth of candies since Boss Dan asked me to buy our desk's "pasalubong" to the dealing room. He promised to pay his share when we meet later at the hotel. I had no intention of letting him pay though since buying the candies is nothing compared to the group's paying for more than half my hotel and plane fare to Davao City (I wasn't an official PNB delegate so I have to pay for my trip).

Another shop that sells good candies is Anobei Sweets Enterprises whose address is 258 GSIS, Matina. This is where Teddy buys the candies he brings back to Manila whenever he visits his family in Davao City. I think the owner of this shop is related to Linda as the durian bars taste the same and the contact person according to the Department of Agriculture website has the Ibanez last name.

We had already left the shop and walking towards the main road when Rhoda suggested that I ask Boss Mon what pasalubong he wants to buy. We actually stopped on the street and I called him from my cellphone. He said "pomelos", which meant we didn't have to walk back to Linda's. Julpha took care of his request by adding two more boxes to our order of pomelos.

As it was already 4:30 pm, we directed the taxi we flagged down to bring us back to the Marco Polo hotel.