OPPO F1s: Capturing Philippines

Most of my 2016 was stuck at the office. Luckily, I was able to steal a few getaways here and there. Last March, me and a few friends went across our neighboring island Cebu. It was so amazing to travel again and experience the Color Me Ladies Conference for the first time. We got to hear Ms. Christine Kairus, Ms. Kuh Ledesma and Ms. Jodi Sta. Maria speak and share their very own life testimonies. We couldn't stay long at Cebu though, so before hitting the road home, we just took a quick walk around SM Seaside. Which was huge by the way!

https://www.facebook.com/ColourMeLadiesCon/

Then May was Bohol time. Although we didn’t get to see the Chocolate Hills and tarsiers, we were able to ride our way to Panglao Island and hit the white sand beach. Soon after, we rode up to Loboc Eco-Tourism Adventure Park to ride my very first ever zipline. Ever! Yep! I was so scared that I might not make it, that I’d probably faint half way through or my heart would possibly beat so fast! But when I took a peek I just couldn’t keep my eyes shut. The view was breathtakingly beautiful! I made it not once but twice on the zipline ride. Oh yeah! Bohol was super duper amazing I tell you and I would happily go back any time!

Lastly, we traveled up north the Negros island to Sagay City and the City of Smiles. Although it was more of a business trip, we couldn't help but take a few stopovers to satisfy the tummy. Right after we had dinner at 18th St. Pala-pala Resto, we walked down to Calea's and had to try their famous Mudpie cake. And my eyes just drool  at the sight of it all! 

So yeah that’s about last year’s travel adventures. This year, however, I’ve promised myself to take the bus, ride the boat and get on a plane. A. Whole. Lot. More! First on the list would surely be Negros’ very own Lakawon Island in Cadiz City. It may be a bit far north from Dumaguete but it’ll definitely be worth the hours ride. Just look at these pictures and tell me this won’t make you want to take a leave and hit the road! 

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Lakawon Island is a banana-shaped island off the coast of Cadiz in the northern portion of Negros Occidental. They said that you can actually just walk to or from the main island during low tide. That maybe is the reason why it's called Lakawon Island, derived from "lakaw" meaning "to walk". It’s my top of the list favorite destination in the Philippines followed by Camiguin and Palawan.

I can’t help but get really excited next month to see this view with my very own eyes. And of course share the experience with you guys too! I know you too would get really really excited as well when you see more pictures. That’s why I really love how Oppo has designed their F1s Selfie Expert smartphone. It’s perfect for this year’s travel adventures! Of all its cool features, one thing that really made me WOW was their selfie panorama. It’s like taking a panoramic shot of everyone using the front camera. How cool is that? I mean, who needs a selfie stick? Just by simply rotating the phone from side to side and it takes a wide-angle selfie.

check out more cool features here : http://www.oppo.com/en/smartphone-f1s

With it's 16-megapixel front camera, everyone in the gang would perfectly fit in one selfie pic! Thank you Oppo F1s for this super awesome feat! I would definitely bring you along to all my 2017 Philippine travel destinations!

Worry-Free Outdoors

Being a first-time mom, I am always overprotective of my daughter.  Like all moms, I just want to shield her from all the harms and hurts in the world.  That is why letting her play outdoors just freak me out all the time.  Imagine all the pests and all the dangers there are outside of the confines of our homes!  However, we cannot always safeguard them inside of our overly protective embraces, can we?  Exposing them to the elements of the outdoors as early as now is for their own good, isn't it?

Today, I braved my own fears and let K play outdoors.  I let her chase Wabby, our dog, around the dusty ground, play ball on the grass, and just enjoy being outside of the house.  It took a lot of courage, I tell you, not to help her get up after seeing her stumble to the ground sometimes.  I read somewhere that moms should also let their kids get up on their own after falling so that they'll learn to be independent.  It somehow teaches them to properly deal with their future failures - they'll learn how to get up from every fall instead of just wailing aloud and waiting for us to rescue them all the time.

Seeing K having the time of her life playing outdoors relieved all my trepidation.  I saw her happy little face giggling and laughing as she ran around and turning all curious as she stopped to examine the things that caught her interest.  And that made me realize how I have been restricting her all this time.  Yes, it is my responsibility to look after her, but it should not be to the point of confining her in my safe little space where her learning is constricted.

By providing K with the right protection that she needs every day, I can stop worrying about all the outdoor elements and start really enjoying our precious times together.  Good thing OFF!Insect Repellent Lotion always got us covered.  What I like about OFF! is that it just has the right, mild citronella smell that my overly sensitive nose can easily handle.  Another insect repellent lotion that I used previously gave my husband constant headaches.

OFF! Insect Repellent Lotion has always been our family's staple.  I never let our shelf run out of it ever since K got admitted for Dengue Fever.  Dengue is a serious disease and I try so hard to prevent it from affecting our family again.  With OFF!, I know K is protected.  I know that even if she is outdoors, she is safe from all the disease-carrying mosquitoes around her.  With OFF!, I know that even if K is out of my protective embrace, she still has the right protection that she needs.

Live with the King

As far as I could remember, the most expensive gadget I have ever purchased from my personal pocket, was my first and only Android phone. I could never forget that time when I had eagerly saved up just to purchase it, back when Gingerbread was still hot on the oven. With the continuous advancement of Android OS and apps, my phone just can't catch up. Although it's still in a good shape, with my work and busy schedule, I now need a new phone that would just meet up to my needs. For months now, I have been doing research here and there, and really contemplating on which phone to buy. With the very competitive market today, truly I have become hesitant and would just like to stick to my good ol' smartphone.

I have used my phone for a lot of things already: call, text, organize, hotspot, you name it. And with sentimental value to add, I thought I could just wait until it breaks (that way I'd be forced to let it go and buy a new one). Indeed for a phone of four years, that is really hard to let go.

So how would a person like me be interested, more like be captivated, to invest again in a smartphone? What it takes is just 5 important things - camera, graphics/display, memory, processor and design/hardware. As an IT graduate and a very OC person, picking the best gadget must be chosen wisely. So far, Huawei's Nexus 6P has caught my eye and full attention. Here's why:

Powerful Camera. Nexus 6P has 12.3MP rear camera (1.55µm) plus 8MP front camera (1.4µm), which is even better than the Apple 6s 12MP with (1.22µm). The higher the microns the more light each pixel can collect. Which means not only will it capture great photos with well-lighted environment but performs also a lot better in lesser light. It’s simply because the pixels are larger and can capture more light.

Stunning Screen Clarity. 5.7 inches WQHD (2560 x 1440) AMOLED display at 518 ppi with 16:9 aspect ratio. As the name Wide Quad HD, it has four times as many pixels as your regular HD. That's simply better movies and videos.

Faster-than-ever Performance. Multi-tasking? No problem. Truly you can do more with 3GB memory. Because the more RAM you have, the more Apps you can run simultaneously. But of course this must be paired with a powerful processor for that ultimate performance.

Next-level user experience. With the latest version of Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 v2.1, Nexus has the ultimate in performance and power efficiency. The 2.0 GHz octa-core 64-bit and Adreno 430 GPU makes it faster for your phone to work like you’re asking it to do. Multiple cores just simply means fast and snappy experience. Apps load quickly, photos and videos capture at high-quality, and then browse through your gallery smoothly. Thus, the more cores the better the performance!

Iconic hardware design. Last but not the least, an exquisite frame for an exquisite king. Nexus 6P has a full metal unibody with curved metal shell crafted from aeronautical-grade anodized aluminium. What's more dramatic? Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 protects your device, the toughest cover glass yet – reducing that sick feeling when you accidentally drop your phone.

So, there goes my critic. If you still want more of its awesome features just go and visit  their website here. The King of Android makes it possible. Elegantly designed with the best of Google in the palm of your hand! Love it? Well, goodbye ol' phone, I'm definitely investing on this one! ;-)