Mabuhay!
I got my start in photography at Clark AFB (Angeles City) in the late 60's.
Wilson made some good points. Keep in mind you usually get what you pay for, not only in brands, but range. A lens with an 11x zoom range will be very convenient but will have some compromises in design compared to one that doesn't try to do everything. The longer range lens won't be as fast, if that's one of your interests, and probably won't look as sharp either...but it won't cost as much as one of the "holy grail" lenses either. No zooms I know of are real macro lenses either, but some do focus close. Technically, a macro lens gets 1:1 (life size) on the sensor.