Pauwi na kami noon…. pagkatapos ng tatlong araw na bakasyon sa Bangkok kailangan na naming magimpake at magpaalam. Kailangan na naming umuwi. Pero hindi sa Pilipnas. Shet…. isa pang shet. Isa pa… tama na… sa Singapore kasi si misis nagtatrabaho, ako naman sabit lang, naghahanap pa ng mauutong employer. Napaisip tuloy ako, UUWI NGA BA TALAGA KAMI? Yun ba ang dapat itawag? ‘Home sweet home’ nga ba ang mababanggit ko o maiisip man lang pag dating namin?
Alam ko naman ang sagot bago ko pa maisip ang tanong.
Habang nasa Thailand nagpunta kami kung saan saan, nagikot sa mga lugar na animo Cubao, Monumento at Divisoria. Nakisalamuha sa mga tao na kakulay at kahawig natin. Kumain ng pagkain na hindi kapresyo ng isang buong araw na ulam ng isang pamilya sa Pinas. Namili sa palengke ng mga damit at gamit na presyong palengke (dapat lang naman diba). Sumakay ng colorum na van papunta sa kung saan (parang yung mga byaheng Bulacan-Makati). Magulo din pala dun, madaming tao na nagkalat sa kalsada, madami ring manloloko at manggagancho, mabaho ang taxi, mainit, mainggay, maalikabok. Sabi ko nga, parang Pilipinas lang, pwera lang nung nagtanong kami ng direksyon (in english syempre), kulang na lang tumakbo sa takot si manong guard, sabi ba naman “no… no…” sabay atras. Yun lang…
Pero hindi ako nagrereklamo ha, kahit paano naipaalala sa amin ano ang pakiramdam ng buhay sa Pilipinas, naramdaman ang gulo ng araw araw na buhay na nakasanayan na namin, yung ingay ng mga tindera, tambay, at mga walang magawa sa buhay na kapag di mo narinig sa isang araw mapapaisip ka na parang may mali, may kulang. Yung harurot ng mga motor, taxi at bus na bulok na naguunahan na para bang taeng tae na. Napaisip tuloy ako na magtratrabaho na lang rin ako sa ibang bansa sana sa ganito na lang, kahit paano at home ako. Kahit ilusyon lang na nasa Pilipinas ako papatusin ko na. Kahit kunwari lang pwede na.
Balik tayo sa Singapore. Hindi kami masaya na uuwi na kami. Paano naman kami magiging masaya e hindi naman namin kama yung hihigaan namin, hindi naman sa amin yung bahay na papasukan namin, kailangan pa namin magelevator, e sa bahay namin sa Pinas pagbukas ng pintuan ayan na ang sofabed, kahit na dun na lang matulog solb na, kahit gumulong ka sa sahig, ok lang, at least bahay mo.
Eto ako ngayon, nakaupo sa McDo, magisa, nagsusulat ng kung ano mang pumasok sa isipan, umiinom ng kape na lasang Milo na kailangan paabutin ng tatlong oras, hanggang sa lumabas ng trabaho si misis. Pero kung nasa Pinas lang sana ako, habang naghihintay, tatambay lang ako sa bahay ng mga tropa, magpapalibre o manlilibre ng mami sa kanto, manonood ng DVD, makikitulog sa sirang kama, kakain ng nilagang itlog, squid balls, hotdog at Lucky Me Pancit Canton na lahat niluto sa rice cooker, kakanta sa videoke na 30 lang yata ang kanta, puro boyband pa, makikipaggaguhan hanggang sa may mapikon o magsawa, makikinig sa mga kwento ng kadramahan, katorpehan at kabobohan… lahat yata pwede mong gawin kapag nasa Pinas ka.
Lahat… pwera isulat ito.
Sabi nga nung kanta, “…hinahanap hanap kita Manila…”, sakto yung kantang yun e, sapul na sapul. Ilang taon na rin naman kasi ako sa ibang bansa simula noong 2006. Pagkatapos ko magtrabaho ng isa’t kalahating taon pagkatapos ko magtapos ng kolehiyo, sinuwerte/minalas ako na mapadala sa ibang bansa, nagtrabaho doon ng halos dalawang taon, umuwi ng pinas, nagpakasal, tapos lipad nanaman papunta sa iba namang bansa. Gaano man karangya at “kakumportable” ang buhay sa ibang bansa, “ibang bansa” pa rin ang tawag dun, “iba”… ibang tao, ibang salita, ibang pakiramdam, ibang pagkain, ibang paniniwala, ibang trip, ibang badtrip, ibang sakit ng ulo, iba lahat, ibang buhay.
Bago ko makalimutan… ibang amoy.
Kahit anong gulo at ingay sa Pilipinas, basta may Jollibee at Andoks uuwi pa rin ako. Kahit anong problema o kahit gaanong kadaming reklamo man ang ibato ko sa Pinas, ok lang, ilang redhorse lang solb na, sabay tulog, pagkagising bagong buhay, bagong reklamo… at least bago. Kahit maliit ang sahod at walang pera madalas, ok lang, magpalibre na lang sa tropa. Kahit madaming gago at sira ulo, kahit delikado, ok lang, magiingat na lang ako, kesa naman mamatay ka sa pagkabagot kasama ng mga robot. Kahit laging baha, pwede ka naman magswimming….teka teka, mali yun. Basta alam ko masaya sa Pinas. Masayang maging masaya.
Ito ang buhay namin dati.
Pero sino nga bang tanga ang babalik sa magulo, maingay at mahirap na buhay pagkatapos makaranas ng mas maginhawang buhay sa ibang bansa…
Sino?
Ikaw, ako, tayo.
Tanungin mo sarili mo bakit mo gustong umuwi…
we’re 30% done. more or less.
First post… uhhhh… and we don’t know where to start. the site has no theme. no header. no nothing. i don’t know how to do anything and everything. need to figure out how this works… me being an ex-IT Professional seems not to be helping and Malu’s playing farmtown, and this is supposed to be by Spongklong & Marshmalu. hehe.
Gone were the days, when your visit to that computer store in SM means having to decide which stain remover to buy for your previously white, now yellowish 14-inch monitor. When buying a 17-incher would require you to include a 300-peso taxi fare and a Shakey’s Bunch O’ Lunch meal for your friend in your budget, since you can only find these ‘rare’, ‘cheap’ & insanely heavy luxuries in PCX Gilmore whereas you live in Novaliches. When your biggest dilemma is whether to buy a Seagate 1.6 GB or a Maxtor 1.8GB. Might as well go for the 1.8, after all, you can do so much with 200MB of hard drive space. Gone were the days when not everyone can afford a CD-Writer (around 12k for the 2X when they first came out) and a blank CD costs around a hundred & twenty pesos each (wonder how much were DVDs back then). Best of luck not to mess up that burn, or that’s another 120 for you. And when the cheapest laptop you can afford would require you to apply for a loan and use your KIA Pride as collateral. Which when actually used on your lap for extended periods of time will more less cause enough damage to your bones, and you’ll need to stay immobile for at least 10 minutes after each laptop-on-lap session.
Why you should not buy a DSLR
First, I’ll try to identify some reasons why people do buy DSLRs.
They’re ‘cheap’. Really, they’ve never been this cheap. An entry-level model now costs about $599, and probably has more advanced features than that of a pro-level five years ago. Live view, swivel LCDs, dual processors, video capability, higher extended ISOs, face recognition, dust-removal, the list goes on and on and on. And, yeah, before I forget the insanely overrated MP boost… Manny Pacquiao? No. MegaPixel.
They’re cool, hence they make you look cool too. Let’s admit it, we buy gadgets and things and whatever because they’re cool and shiny and sleek and new and they convey status. Utility? That comes second, or maybe third, or maybe you never considered that at all. This is how consumerism works after all. Don’t worry, it’s not your fault, it’s theirs; they manipulated how society thinks and messed up so much how we perceive things that’s why we have this ‘coolness and ‘in’ concept working for us like clockwork.
For art’s sake. You’re planning to be a Pro, or shifting careers or re-inviting your art or it is after all your passion, or trying out a new hobby. Again, we can’t argue with that. To each his own.
So, I was able to come up with a few, there maybe a few more but I’d rather not dig them up or this would turn out to be a rant after all. Whether they’re reasons or excuses, I would say they’re valid, reasonable or excusable enough to warrant you your new toy. But then again we have to stick to the title right? So here’s the part that actually matters.
They are cheap or so you thought. What most newcomers don’t realize is that buying the first kit is just the start. Ever heard of the upgrade itch? It’s a recurring condition wherein someone who’s extremely discontented feels the urge to buy equipments and upgrades to justify the value and the worthiness of his initial investment. How about the upgrade itch c-strain? Again it’s a recurring condition, this time someone extremely ‘contented’ would want to experience the full potential of his first purchase so he buys more, so contented he decides that he is not that contented after all, so he again decides to buy more. There is a variation to this condition, it’s called “can’t wait for the next paycheck syndrome’.
For the few who’s got enough self-control to stick with their kit lens, good for you… or not…
The truth is they were designed to immerse the user into the DSLR experience but soaking only your feet in the process. To give the illusion that you’re a pro but not quite. You feel good holding that unfamiliar body in one of your hands, a far cry from your measly P&S and on the other you wrap your fingers across the lens barrel, rotating with pleasure the zoom & focus rings… and it puts a silly smile on your face. You’re hooked. You take some photos, you upload them then you discover they’re not really that far from your disowned camera, and then enters the thing about upgrades that I just mentioned. Based from experience, a prosumer, let’s say a Canon G10 or a Lumix DMC LX-3, would, sometimes yield better photos than that of an entry-level DSLR kit, depending on the shooting condition of course. And if you check the reviews, the newer prosumers or even some advanced superzooms can do pretty much everything that budget DSLRs can do (except change lenses obviously) .
You can’t buy creativity. Too bad. But you can learn it though. It’s a bit early but I decided to drop the bomb on this one. We buy DSLRs because we thought we could produce ‘magazine-quality’ or ‘pro-level’ photos out of the box. Well.. you can, that’s why you’re spending so much? Not. For you to do so, you need skill, for you to have skill you need to have time and when I say time, I’m not talking about a week or a month, and for you to have time you have to have patience. Even with a more expensive body+lens setup you are not assured that you’ll be able to get the ‘quality’ that internet advertisement promised you. Ok, so you were able to read how shutter and aperture works with light or maybe you even took a short course on basic photography, that will definitely save you some time, but those ‘ooohhhh-sooo-coool-i’ll-buy-a-dslr-too’ photos you see on the net were probably captured by people with years of experience.
They’re huge and heavy and bulky and you’ll need a huge and heavy and bulky bag to carry them around. They are made that way, how else could they cram up all those nifty features? Many times had I wished that I just brought a point and shoot rather than my DSLR and honestly I don’t like the feel of a camera strap on my neck or the weight of the camera bag pressing against my sweaty back when I’m just going to meet up with some friends for dinner and my wife asked me to bring my really cool camera when in fact a handy point and shoot that I could just put in my pocket would do more than a decent job in taking photos of my friends making a fool of themselves while eating messy chili crabs at Jumbo.
I know the title may be a bit imposing, but it’s not really my goal to discourage people (why do I always say that?), rather… uhhh…actually I’m not sure what my goal is… maybe I’m just trying to voice out my observations here (that sounds like a rant after all) and maybe affect the decision or at least the considerations of someone who’s planning to buy one. I know a few people who bought their DSLRs for the wrong reasons or in an act of impulsiveness, and later on found out that they actually don’t have the need for it. Some even invested on ‘definitely-not-cheap’ equipments thinking they would be able to appreciate the hobby more, in a desperate effort not to prove themselves wrong, but we do know how that ends. Though they can well afford it, that doesn’t change the fact that it is still a waste.
Seriously now, not just because everyone has it means you got to have one too. What are you, five years old?. Explore, read reviews, surf the net, learn from others’ mistakes, be inspired by others’ stories, know what you need. You can’t kill an elephant with a fork as such you can’t eat 8 bigmacs with a pair of chopsticks (i was informed someone actually just did this). What i mean here is, buy a rangefinder, buy a point and shoot, or an underwater camera, or an LCA+ or a superzoom, or a prosumer or a camphone or a Hasselblad for all I care, just know what you’re getting into, because you won’t catch me buying a pager even if they go back into circulation and suddenly become “the next big thing, again” and every yuppie has one around their waste just to look cool.
… on a lighter note… how much we wanted to explore new horizons and possibilities and how badly we wanted to be happy or make someone happy (now you can’t call me cynical. *grin*).
And for the record, $599 is not cheap. That’s about 3 decent P&S cameras already, give one to your wife, one to your other wife, keep the last one for yourself. You just made three people happy. Just my two cents.