The last time I was in Davao all I saw was the airport and my hotel. This time around, I was going to see a hotel on my way to the airport, but wow, what a hotel. When you think of the name Kublai (depending on your age) you may think of Kublai Khan, the last emperor of the Mongol
Empire and founder of the Yuan Dynasty. If you were partying out in the 80’s, you think of the hotspot Kublai’s (like I do) where anything and everything was legal—but thankfully without the digital image evidence (Phew, many of you may be saying). In this part of the world though, Kublai was the name of an artist who is giving expressive art a whole new dimension. I arrived at the Ponce Suites Hotel and all I could say as I took in the entrance was “Wow, size matters.” Huge sculptures greeted my companion and I, and even if they looked like they weighed more than a ton, some of them seemed to be suspended like they were as light as air.
Inside the hotel I was in for a rather explosive set of textures, colors and images. Every single space of this four-story hotel is covered in an artwork. Yes, if France has Versailles in terms of decadence, Davao has Ponce Suites in terms of expressionism. Each floor greets you with a different theme. You look up, down, around, upside down and there is always something to look at. I even had my share of giant spiders, comical bat sculptures and a huge gecko staircase. Wow, who needs Walt Disney on acid when you have the artist who made all of this—Kublai Ponce
Millan.
Upon meeting Kublai, I couldn’t help but think “Oh my god, he looks Mongolian!” what with the long hair the slanted eyes, the goatee and moustache. But of course I bit my tongue. He was
the most charming and humble of hosts as he brought us up and down his hotel/gallery. Yes, you don’t have to check in to take a tour, but if you do, a regular room will cost about P800 a night—not bad and another incentive to come back. He told me that after a long stint of living in Manila, he decided to return to Davao and just do what he loved for fun and hoped that other people would have fun with it too. In fact, he doesn’t sell any of his artwork, he keeps everything and just finds more and more places to put them.
Those who, like me, have only been as far as the airport can get their dose of Kublai’s art by looking at the sculpture of a giant durian with women coming out of it.
My friend and I had a late flight to catch so we decided to chase the sunset and go to another one of Kublai’s projects, the People’s Park right smack in the heart of the city. It is actually Kublai’s dream to just build public places for children. (He has a son and daughter and his wife is pregnant with his third). So he envisions areas where they can play and families can go to enjoy themselves without having to spend a lot of money.
The People’s Park is a statement of integration. The sculptures of larger than life children represent different looks of Fiipinos from their dress to the fruits or products of a particular region. The entire park is family-friendly—children run and climb on everything, adults sit around and walk around and there is an educational component for everyone as the different trees come with “labels” so you can even get a lesson in tree-ology.
What’s even more amazing about this park is that it is litter-free. “The people take pride in this as their personal space even if it’s public,” shares Kublai, “so there is a certain reverence with how they treat it, they don’t leave anything and throw their trash in the respective trash bins.” The park is also free of charge, like his hotel turned gallery (where we capped the night off having vegetarian pizza) Kublai has created (and continues to create—as he is in the process of building another park in another province) a sanctuary for the senses.
Ponce Suites is located on Roads 3 and 2 Doña Vicenta Village II, Bajada Davao City. Contact No. (092) 778-8808 or (802) 227-9070 www.poncesuites.com
Text and photos by Katrina A. Holigores
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Last updated 04:34pm (Mla time) 04/18/2008
