From blogger to book author
By Ruby de Vera
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:30:00 04/22/2008
MANILA, Philippines—It’s not easy to catch the attention of the blog-reading population when you’re competing with tens of thousands of other blogs. And it’s much harder for bloggers to cross over and actually publish their work.
That’s why Nicanor David Jr., known as Batjay in the blogging world, has made quite a feat with the release of his second book, “Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig.”
Published under Foxbooks, it was launched on April 14 at Fully Booked in Bonifacio High Street. The public response was so great that the bookstore ran out of copies for the day.
Batjay’s first book, “Kwentong Tambay,” was released in 2006. Like that book, “Kaning Lamig” is mostly a compilation of Batjay’s blog entries that chronicle his family’s move to the US from Singapore. He’s been an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) for seven years now, and has been blogging for about the same time. He is an engineer by profession; wife Jet is a nurse.
He started to blog as a way of coping with the stress of working far away from home. With his offbeat and interesting writing style, he quickly gained a loyal fan base—many of them fellow OFWs who related to his stories, and people who appreciated his sense of humor.
Regular readers of his blog (http://kwentongtambay.com) know that it’s not for the sensitive. Nose-picking and bodily functions are regularly mentioned in a matter-of-fact manner, and it’s up to the reader to discern if it’s funny or offensive. Generally, people find it funny.
As popular as his blog is, Batjay does get hate mail. He says it comes with the territory; the anonymity of the Internet is so powerful that people feel they can say anything without accountability.
Everyday Tagalog
Living in another country provides Batjay a lot of material for the blog, and consequently, the book. He tells us about the weather, the people, the way of life—using everyday Tagalog. He also writes about the things that he misses: his mother, the food and his friends.
Some of the entries are in the form of an advice column, “Dear Unkyel Batjay,” and always coming from the same “Gentle Reader.” Topics range from wacky recipes to more serious questions (e.g. how to succeed in marriage), even if they come disguised in his signature humor.
Lost in translation
Being a foreigner at the workplace, though, he can’t joke around there like he does with his friends here. He says a lot of puns get lost in translation. “It’s hard to be funny in another language,” he says. There is no English word for kaning lamig, for instance.
After being diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension, he decided that the best self-motivation to lose weight was to announce it in the blog. He did lose the pounds, and now he says he feels healthier. As a reward, he got himself a brand new HDTV. Also, the company he works for pays their employees $2 a day for jogging or biking to work.
Batjay also does podcasting and video blogging. But, as they take longer to post, he’s not able to update as regularly as he does with his written posts. He’s still quick to deny that he’s a good writer, pointing to his wife as the better one.
He has avoided commenting on national issues, fearing that his humor might rub others the wrong way. He makes an exception, though, for issues that affect him personally, but he tries to keep the blog all about his life.
Earlier this year he even took out Google Adsense from his blog, as he wants it now purely to be about his stories, with no commercial value.
Responsible blogging is about telling the truth as often as you can with no agenda, he says. Write about what you really think and feel, and don’t be pretentious about things. Integrity is important. “Dapat walang arte, hindi plastic,” he adds.
Batjay might appear to be all jokes and funny stories, but he offers this quote in closing: “Kahit gago ako, may damdamin pa rin naman ako.”
“Mga Kwento ng Batang Kaning Lamig” is available at Fully Booked, National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Filbar’s, and at Bound Bookstore in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.
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