Travelling to Kota Kinabalu is one of my #travelgoals in 2018. It's been a long time I'm planning to visit to this beautiful destination which is on my bucket list. When I got a chance to file a (work) vacation leave, I immediately checked online to find the cheapest airfare and hotel in KK.

That time, Cebu Pacific was the only airline company that offer the cheapest airfare for Manila to Kota Kinabalu flight. The airfare also from Brunei to Manila was less than 2,000 pesos. I decided to book a one way flight from Manila to Malaysia and a one way flight from Brunei to Manila. The total ticket cost was less than 5,000 pesos without check-in baggage.

Are you travelling soon abroad? Would you like to know on how you can stay connected online without paying too much? I found a 4G/ LTE Pocket Wi-Fi that works over 50 countries, giving you Unlimited Wi-Fi access everywhere.

Stay connected on your next adventure & surf around the world with Flypack. It is your global travel buddy that gets you connected abroad without outrageous roaming charges waiting for you back home. It's a portable device which fits in your pocket and could connect multiple devices at the same time.

During our visit in Davao, we traveled to Baranggay Ilang to visit the relocation housing project, given for over 100 families living in flood-prone areas near the Ilang River in Davao City. It's a joint project of Holcim Philippines, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and, City of Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO).

Do you remember your first plane ride? How about your first travel in your dream destination? Well, me? I have lots of first stories to share. You would agree to me that every first moments always leave a big impact to our lives which turn into wonderful memories, something that are are worth treasuring a lifetime.

Cebu Pacific recently launched the #MakeMomentsHappen campaign which aim to encourage Filipinos to enjoy life's first experiences. This campaign also will inspire more Filipinos to travel and gain more experiences.

Before traveling to Kota Kinabalu, I read some blogs about this beautiful state of Sabah, Malaysia, making sure that some of the must-visit tourist destinations will be included on my itinerary. Kota Kinabalu is often known as KK both in Malaysia and internationally. It is a major tourist destination and a popular gateway for travellers visiting Sabah and Borneo. Most of the travelers visit KK to witness the beauty of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Malaysia.

On my first day in Kota Kinabalu, we explored one of Borneo's tallest mountains as well the Poring Hot Springs, Desa Cow Farm, & the Moroli River Fish Spa. KKday arranged the tour for me. The package tour includes hotel transfer, Malaysian Cuisine as Lunch, Roasted Wild Boar Food Trip, Entrance fee, Refflesia Entrance Fee, Tips and Insurance. I was joined with a group which composed of travellers from Taiwan. Our guide can talk in both Mandarin and English. After our guide gave the destination's information in English, he translated it immediately in Mandarin.

You don’t need an expensive camera to take great photos and videos. Your smartphone in your pocket is better than you think. It’s not only a gadget that you can use for calling, texting and searching information online, it’s also a powerful tool to preserve memories and moments.

Capturing memories from your travel escapade is more rewarding if you know how to use your camera. All you need to do is to explore the camera settings. Good thing, smartphone cameras are now amazingly good, offering the best in image quality. Also, most of the camera features are user friendly and easy to navigate. Even though there are lots of high-end smartphones available in the market, but few of them can produce great outputs.

Recently, I travelled to Brunei. It’s my second time to travel solo abroad and the feeling was still the same from the first time I travelled alone. It's a combination of joy and excitement. As much I want to invite my friends to join with me, their boss will not allow them to leave the office for more than 2 days. It's very different travelling with friends or partner. But hey, solo travelling is really fun.

Aside from my clothes, shoes, and accessories, I brought my Fujifilm camera and ASUS Zenfone 5 on my trip. As a travel blogger, I need to make sure I have images or videos of every destination I visited. Readers of my blog are now more visuals. Most of  them are requesting to upload a lot of photos to get an idea on how places look like and to know what Instagram-worthy destinations they need to include on their itinerary.

Let’s talk about the ASUS Zenfone 5. This smartphone is powered by the very latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 (ZenFone 5) and 845 (ZenFone 5Z) SoC (System on a Chip) mobile platforms. It harness the power of the Artificial Intelligence Engine (AIE of the Snapdragon 845) or AI capabilities of the processors to execute the many micro tasks involved in Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing.

I know some of you are not familiar about AI on a camera. Actually, it is one of the hot new buzzwords in photography and  becomes the trend in the advanced technology development. For the  benefits of everyone, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, a special camera feature that recognise the subjects that you're shooting and adjust its settings automatically to produce the best looking photos. The Zenfone 5 camera’s AI data model can detect up to 16 different scenes and subjects, and this data model is created by referencing thousands of stock photos stored on ASUS servers.

Let's talk about the appearance of the phone. The screen of Zenfone 5 is similar with the iPhone X. Yes, its front screen looks like the display of the latest iPhone. But, you will still see the unique characteristic of a ASUS smartphone. Anyway, the Zenfone 5 has a 6.2-inch 19:9 screen with a notch and display protected by 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass. The whole body is a mix of aluminum and toughened glass. Overall, it's a gorgeous smartphone.

I'm sure you want to know if the Zenfone 5 has a good camera. Yes, it captures quality photos and videos. The main camera features 12MP, F1.8 Sony IMX363 sensor with large 1.4μm pixels and the second rear camera has 120-degree wide angle, F2.2, 8-megapixel camera that can capture wide landscapes. The front camera sports 8 megapixel and F2.0 selfie camera with 4-element lens and 84 degree view angle. I know it's a bit techie, just to make it short, the Zenfone 5 produces decent photos and videos, having a camera setup that features a dual lens system that can capture standard view and wide angle photo which is perfect for panorama or landscape shots.

The ZenFone 5 has a stunning AI-powered Portrait mode that lets users achieve professional-looking shots of people or objects, enhanced with a blurred background (bokeh) effect in real time. This Real-time Portrait mode can be used with any of the three cameras on ZenFone 5.

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of mobile photography. The color and harshness of a light source can have dramatic effects on the image. No worries, the Zenfone 5 can capture great photos even in a low light. Honestly, I love all my shots especially taken at night. The photo is clear, vivid and crisp.

Due to the limited time, I was not able to browse the camera's various settings to take better portraits, landscapes and panoramas. Usually, I use only the auto or HDR, or High Dynamic Range.  Upon checking the settings of the phone, there are lots of things that I need to be learned to capture best shots.

The ASUS Zenfone 5 is priced at Php19,995 (4GB RAM variant) and is available nationwide.

Overall, the Zenfone 5 is a great smartphone. It's a dazzling phone with good looking display, decent camera and long -lasting battery. It's a great value smartphone for people on the go.

Note:

If you have smartphone, familiarize yourself with your camera app’s settings. Take photos as many pictures. I suggest to capture the subject in different angle. Also, always remember that the lighting, scene modes, and composition can all play a part in capturing photo and video. When you used your smartphone correctly, it can produce images that hold up against high-end cameras.

If you have you blog, review or questions about ASUS Zenfone 5, please leave a comment below.

In time for the Kadayawan Festival, Davao will be hosting the second leg of the Regional Travel Fair that will be held on 16-18 August 2018 at the SM Lanang Premiere.

The first leg was held in Legaspi, Albay last 17-20 May 2018, which joined by travel tour operators, travel agents, domestic hotels and resorts, destination management companies and domestic airlines from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Starting August 14, Cebu Pacific, the country's largest airline, will start servicing the Manila-Melbourne route, 3 times weekly with fares as low as Php7500, banking on the rising number of Filipino tourists in Australia.

Bluewater Day Spa recently celebrated the successful grand opening with a official ribbon-cutting ceremony of another branch at Banawe, Quezon City – one of the busiest business districts in the metro.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was joined by Bing Limjoco (Philippine Chamber of Commerce President), Ms Mary Simisim (CEO), Christian Bautista, Ms Thia Thomalia (Ms Eco-Tourism), Benjamin Alves, David Licauco, Janeena Chan, Ervic Vijandre and Mr Carlo Orosa.

Me and My Town is the newest Magazine and Travel show in the Philippines that will be aired on GMA News TV. It aims to promote the unique charm of cities and towns in the country by featuring its tourist attractions especially lesser-known yet worthy destinations.

Kathy San Gabriel visits the the City of Imus ( photo from Me and My Town)

The travel show will not only highlight famous tourist destinations in the Philippines, but also to showcase culture, heritage, food and the arts. It will also feature sustainable tourism as well some of the advocacy being implemented by the local government and several groups or organization.