Sunday, December 11, 2011

What can you do with an Android Phone?

Android Phones has been around for quite sometime now but I always do not look at them seriously since these smart phones can never meet my computing requirements(that's what I used to think) because I assume that they are just refurbished Microsoft OS powered PDA's that became so popular in the previous decade(2000-2009) but are not really that functional because there were no abundant free software to really make them functional. I know this because I also owned an HP Ipaq 2210(a PDA with a CF Card and an SDIO card reader) and bought a bunch of accessories like GPRS Modem that enabled me to surf the internet wirelessly, an FM tuner, a wifi receiver, among others. Well, these PDA's never reached the masses and caught the attention of the huge Developer community because it was powered by Microsoft and obtaining the software development kit(SDK) will be too expensive.

But as soon as got hold of a demo unit at a Samsung concept store in Cyber Zone at SM North EDSA Annex, I came to realize that I was wrong. And with the release of the cheapest Android powered smart phone(Samsung Galaxy Y), I figured I really got to have it and off I went to Mall got a new Android phone.

After 2 days with my Samsung Galaxy Y, I am still not done exploring the huge features that are available on the phone itself. It is so fast, just as fast as my Qube M1 Netbook, I can watch youtube, it has built-in GPS so I always check and explore the map, I always check my email with it most of the time, I play music and videos with it, there over 1 million apps available in the Android Market and most of them are free and my favorite apps to date are Chess, IPWebcam, Opera Mini Browser, FaceBook App for Android, Gold Price Widget, CHikka and Space Shooter. All of these apps are free. I could nng of ot imagine how cheap these smartphone is. It is 10x more powerfull than my HP Ipaq 2210 and the bunch of accessories I bought and yet I have spent over 2000 US Dollars for that gadget way too expensive than the 120 US Dollars I spent for the Samsung Galaxy Y.

Just take a look of the power of this Android Phone is. In the picture, I had a laptop bag that I would carry if I want to bring my laptop with me if I want to take pictures of places and upload the pictures immediately for my friends to view and appreciate on the internet, but after buying the Samsung Galaxy Y, all I need to carry is a tiny Camera bag.
  
By the way, my HP Ipaq 2210 did not survived the Ondoy flooding.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Another Good Suggestion to Save Money

For those people who earns so much but are not able to save their hard earned Pesos because they keep buying gadgets and always go out to spend, I have another very good suggestion on how you can save your money. Spending so much can be very addictive. Especially when you go out a lot and spend most of your time in a mall with all of your cash with you. This can be prevented by not sacrificing your bad habit of hanging out in the malls.

Money is a very liquid asset, you must therefore find a way to convert it into something else that will not reduce its value. I have discovered that with the current European crisis, a lot of foreign investors in the country are withdrawing their money, as a result, the Philippine Peso is weakening because of this huge outgoing migration of funds. So you must be aware of this, and because you frequently go out perhaps twice a day, then instead of spending your money for expensive food, gadgets and whatever that attracts you for no reason, why not buy USD? So each you go out, just to satisfy your urges, just buy USD100 each time you go out and you will see that your money does not disappears because you are buying money?

Just keep on doing that and in about 5 months, you will realize that you have been shopping a lot and your money is still there. LOL!

Monday, September 12, 2011

LITE-ON External DVD Burner

I thought I will be able to replace my Qube M1 Netbook 3 months ago so I have given my buffalo external dvd writer to a friend. Unfortunately, I decided not to replace my netbook until probably next year. It is still so much better than than the Lenovo Thinkpad T410 that my current employer gave as a service laptop. The Lenovo Thinkpad T410 does have a bright back led disdplay just like the Qube M1 netbook. But since I already know a burglar that does not steal but only looks around to sabotage my priced possessions, he recently hacked my netbook making it unable to boot because of the error 'Unmountable_Boot_Drive'. The only to reapir this error is to restore the netbook with the supplied restore dvd that the seller provided upon buying my Qube M1 netbook.

SO I desperately need an external dvd reader/writer again. So off I go to Cyberzone at SM Cubao and I found the LITE-ON External DVD burner. I wanted something small, bus powered, inexpensive, and the ability to burn a dual-layer DVD. This unit fit the bill so I pulled the trigger. It is absolute looks as good as my previous External Dvd reader.
One particularly nice touch: There is a slot on the underside of the unit which perfectly fits the USB cable when not in use, thus saving you some aggravation when storing the drive. No need to clumsily wrap the cable around the drive or look for it in your bag. This is great when you have to bring it you when you travel because it reduces clutter if you have several gadgets that you put in your bag. But not for me since I dont travel much at all.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

My Cockatiel has finally layed an Egg!!!

My Albino(female) and Lutieno(male) pair of Cockatiel have finally had their egg. They shave been with me for almost 4 months now and for 2 months they have been practicing, always kissing each other and always so sweet with each other and now, now, she finally got an egg.

The saleslady at Bio Research was right, she told me the pair will take at least 4 months before the female will lay an egg. Here is the video of my fowl friends and was recorded about a month ago with my Olympus T-100 digital camera:

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Gold Price is soaring!

Gold has been climbing the last 6 weeks reaching record high($1830) today while Stock Markets around the globe are shrinking losing their 2 years gain in just 3 weeks. The precious metal has become even more precious because the US credit rating downgrade has brought too much uncertainties in the global financial markets. It even be more precious because on the same period, several Central Banks withdrawn their US treasury investments to increase their Gold stocks not only because of the low interest rate but because they want to diversify their investment portfolio.

As I watch CNBC on CIGNAL, several financial analyst forecast reveal that Gold is still undervalued making it a more ideal way to invest but others are pessimistic citing that jewelry and industrial demands is declining and Gold Stock buildup of the World's Central Banks can't always sustain the precious metal's gains. This means that speculators and passive investors are driving if not artificially inflating the Gold price. I think from my point of view, the Gold has always been gaining since the 1900's and to make it's price fall down to its lowest level will be next to impossible.

Gold investing is still a good way to save money, it does not depreciates nor gets obsolete, it is as good as cash that earns interest but of course gadgets is way to make our life a lot more convenient and keep us occupied and entertained during the times when we feel low. They're absolutely different domains.

Update: After Gold Price has reached the historic $1917, it began to fall and the Gold Bubble has just burst and losing more than $200 in just 3 days. Financial analysts said the resistance level is at $1650, if this level is breached, it will go down further to $1510 and if this resistance level is breached again, the Gold Price will again fall down to $1150. Some other Analyst say the decline is just a mere technical correction and Gold Price will still reach $2000 level at year end and probably reach $2500 by end of 2012. If you might wonder where does the money goes after investors sell their gold, well, the Stock Market where else. Stock Market and Gold Prices are inverse correlated at this time while Gold and US Dollar are directly correlated because while Gold Price is declining, the US$ is getting weaker too. My mutual fund investments has been gaining steadily and I am glad and had no regret why I ever invested in it.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Taxi Cabs in 3rd World like Metro Manila

With the introduction of Official Receipts in 3rd World countries where it is such a challenge to earn a decent living, it is now easy to spot who is honestly earning for a living. It is really so fascinating how people would do anything to just to survive in a highly competitive world.

I have collected several Official Receicpts issued by 3 taxi cabs the past 3 days. The route is just the same but the difference is huge. I will leave the rest for my readers to interpret what is in the OR itself.

Taxi 1 Fare : Php 173.00 + Php 7.00(I gave him Php200 be he returned Php20.00 only and drove off quickly)

Taxi 2 Fare : Php 138.00 + Php 2.00(I gave him Php140 and did not bothered getting the change)
Taxi 3 Fare : Php 169.00 + Php 1.00(I gave him Php170.00 and did not bothered getting the change)


I am still puzzled why there is huge difference between the three OR's when the distance has not changed. I am so glad I still have my Olympus T100, it is so useful to take pictures as clear as those pictures shown  here.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

My LG 32LD330 and CIGNAL HD -- really so WOW!!!

I signed up for CIGNAL High Definition programming service. I have chosen the post paid plan because there were 9 high definition channels available. I signed up to justify that my LG 32LD330 is already outdated and it needs to be replaced with a bigger size 46" Devant 3D capable tv but upon seeing its performance, I think the picture quality is still at par with the best and therefore I decided to keep it for at least 1 year more. Watching high definition programs provided by CIGNAL can really glue me inside my apartment because the viewing experience that the LG 32LD330 is amazing!

Yesterday, I had a freaky experience, my Php 15000 18k gold necklace was almost stolen! Thank God, the necklace and the pendant did not fell, it cling on to my walking sports shorts when the thief supposedly should have just picked it from the ground where he had hooked my necklace from my neck to remove it from my neck and he expects it to fall on the ground. That technique is done in split seconds. Luckily it did not fell. I did not know that it fell not until I went out in my apartment short after I arrived to buy a bottle of mineral water. I touched my neck while paying to check my necklace if it still there and then I did not feel its presence, so I panicked. Losing Php 15000 in 1 day is such a huge amount of money already, good enough for me to survive 2 months already. So quickly, I went back to my apartment hoping that the necklace just fell on the floor, and yes, I found it just in front of my 32LD330 tv. But the sad thing is my necklace was damaged.


Probably if I did not changed my shirt before I left my apartment, I could have lost my gold necklace forever. I am so lucky, the thief failed and probably will not able to eat his dinner and could have died of hunger, well too bad for him.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I need to choose between a gadget and a parrot

For so long now, I have been thinking of getting me a nice Blue Naped Parrot, a bird that can only be found in the Philippines. The nice things about this parrot is that it can learn how to talk and is a lot smarter than dogs, grows much bigger than my cockatiels and the most important of them is I like the green colors.



But while I am on my 1 hr break this late afternoon, I don't know what came over me that in just a minute, I found myself inside an Apple store. I was like just looking at the MacBook Pro bat was not impressed, then I looked at the Ipad 2, but it is not windows based, then I looked at the gigantic 27" Big Mac and found it too expensive and I saw the MacBook Air, and wow, so good looking, I want it!

I could not make up my mind. I know it is a very hard decision to make and this really should give me a lot of sleepless nights.

Update: I checked the blue-naped parrot in Cartimar (the silicon valley version of pets) here in the Philippines and found 1 vendor so I interviewed him for almost two hours asking him how should I take of them, why do they sell when they are still babies and played with them for awhile coz they're so adorable but I decided not buy them because first, I have a day job and I will not be able to feed it on time and might be putting him at risk. So instead, I bought a third pied male cockatiel. My reason for buying this cockatiel is because it so adorable and he's already tamed so it will be easy for me gain his trust and soon I can let him out of the cage and play with him or teach some nice tricks just like what I see in youtube where the cockatiels are taught to sing, talk or perform some tasks that can differentiate them from dogs when it comes to intelligence. With the new release of MacBook Air mid-2011 version, I am thinking of buying the 4Gb, Dual Core i7 model in the near future. With this new version, perhaps it will be very difficult to say that it be obsolete in 3 years time.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

My Gadget Blog is now PR2

I am not doing anything to promote my blog. I just join forums related to gadgets and attach my blog's url to my signature. This is really amazing. But anyway google could have seen something valuable in my blog that I am not aware of.

So here are some updates on my previous blogs:

1. My 2 Munias
I have set the green munia free because the brown munia died. This happened more than a month ago. I don't know why the brown munia died. I never noticed he is suffering a disease. As a conclusion, it mysteriously died. But anyway, I have replaced them with a pair of lutino cockatiel. I bought them from BioResearch in SM North EDSA. BioResearch is the biggest chain of pet shop/store in the Philippines. I am currently taming them and yeah the male cockatiel enjoys already to fly over my hands. Cockatiels can live up to 20 years and can learn how to whistle and sometime talk.

Here is how cockatiels look like:


2. Gold Prices
Gold prices went down by as much as $60 since the last 3 weeks and then bounced back to its original level when I first wrote about it. Some industry experts said that the psycological level is $1570 per ounce. If gold price reach this price, then there will be a huge probability that the price will continue to rise up to $1650 per ounce by the end of the year. But dont buy gold just to watch the trends, it sucks.

3. Another secret I found to buy cheap Gold
There are so many pawnshops in Metro Manila if not in the whole Philippines. If you can notice, most of them display gold jewelries. These are real gold jewelries and most of the time they sell it much cheaper than ordinary jewelry shops. And you can easily ask them questions that are usually can not be answered by jewelry shops like what is the weight in grams, if you will pawn it to them, how much would it be, and usually it is Php200 lower that their selling price, so you practically just converting your money into Gold. But you are just not converting your money, you are like investing your money to earn more money, LOL.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mutual Funds is much better way to Save Money

Gadgets are cool but they are just cool that way. Gadgets can easily be outdated and therefore there is a need to constantly upgrade. It is not a good way to save money. Mutual fund is professionally managed type of investment that pools money from many investors to buy stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments. There are many companies that sells mutual funds and for the past 3 years, the yield is so good.

Money grows 100% every 3 years here in the Philippines if you invest in Mutual Funds. It is almost risk free. I invested some money 3 years ago and I am so glad that it has doubled eversince. I intend to invest more because well the market is still bullish and is expected to stay that way in the next 5 years.

The companies that sells Mutual Funds are Philequity, Sun Life of Canada, ATR KimEng, and many more. Some companies can allow you to invest as low as Php5000. They have an organization called Philippine Investment Funds Association. Mutual Funds

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Best Way to Save Money

I did not noticed that for the past 2 weeks, I have been buying things like crazy. I have never realized that I am not saving any money at all and so I have been thinking what is the best solution to save money while not depriving myself from spending a lot of money. See the shopping bags I collected on my China made Tulip Chair.



I thought it is not wise to keep on buying electronic gadgets since these gadgets are just not so useful for me except the latest DSLR Cameras but then it is just too expensive for me so for now, I will still be so happy with my Olympus T-100. The advantage of buying useful electronic gadgets such as laptops, dslr's, video camera and cellphones is you get to use them so that you can become more productive and be more entertained but these electronic gadgets can be easily be outdated in just a few months and worse it depreciate very rapidly.

The second option which I think is also not a good idea based on my experience is buying cool furnitures. While there so many good looking pieces of furnitures which are designed to make home living more comfortable, it too are depreciates very rapidly just my China made Tulip chair which I bought 4 months ago from SM Homeworld. I did not know that it was made in China, not until the saleslady told where it came from just after I paid for it. I bought it because it is so good-looking but after a few days of using it, I felt that sitting on my old monobloc chair is more comfortable than sitting on my tulip chair. And worse, the chair earned its irrepairable crack even though I hardly use it. So I told myself, goodbye to my Php3600 which I could consider not well spent.

Then the 3rd option is buying jewelries and this seem to be the best option. Gold and Diamonds are as good as cash in the bank. It never depreciates and never lose its quality. In fact, it even gets more expensive every year. But to buy the real gold and diamonds, you should consider the reputation of the seller, you must be familiar with the current market value and trends. The best part is the buying experience. It really is fun and exciting. To check how much the real cost of the jewelry, say for example a 4 gms Italian 18k gold necklace,  a jewelry shop in Cubao, would normally sell it for Php2500/gram. The reason why they sell it for Php2500/gram is the storage fee(it is understandable they, the store owners, will not be able to sell it immediately so this is an added cost), the quality and labor cost in the creation of the jewelry itself, and lastly, the store owner needs to make some profit from selling the product. So, check the actual market trading value of gold which is currently at Php1850/gram. Multiply the Php1850/gram amount by 18/24(18 is the gold purity of the jewelry), which results to Php1387.5/gram. So, upon buying the jewelry, you already lost Php1112.5/gram assuming that you plan to sell the jewelry as scrap gold or in other words, you are selling the jewelry without taking into consideration the cost of assembling the jewelry, its sentimental value and age, 

then you will need to keep it for at least 10 years before you can recover the cost if there will be no financial crisis, prices of gold will increase constantly at 5% to 10% annually. But if you have bought it 5 years ago, the price of gold has increased by 125% because 3 years ago, there was the US financial crisis. It is not advisable to sell jewelries as scrap gold, because obviously, you loose lots of money. If you plan to sell the jewelry, look for jewelry shops that buys second hand jewelries, these shops usually buys jewelries much higher than scrap gold prices.

There is another way to save money from gold. I found a product in Amazon that can be cheaper than buying a gold jewelry. The gold bar is 24k and upon buying the gold, you will only lost at least $10/gram which means its only Php430.00 at the current exchange rate. The product link is as follows:

Sunday, May 1, 2011

In today's High Tech Gadgets, Automatic Watches still rules

Automatic Watches or popularly known as Mechanical Watches still remains the favorite of most people in spite of the latest innovations in electronics technology. I am still one of those people because I know that mechanical watches performs so much better and last much longer than the modern electronic watches not to mention the fact that automatic watches is considered as fine works of arts and assembled by hands of great craftsmen.





In today's technology, everyone can have watches that can do almost just about anything, there are electronic watches with camera, colored lcd screen, can monitor your blood pressure, can locate your locations, store appointments, watch television programs, store important documents, used as cell phones, tells where you are with gps technology and many many more. But still some people choose automatic watches.

The only reason behind this is that people value fine workmanship, the elegance and sophistication. But in my case, I have chosen an automatic watch because it already meets my requirements, I do not need all those fancy features since my lifestyle is very simple and I am not constantly on the move. And the Orient EEM78002WB is just perfect for me.


Sunday, April 24, 2011

Robotic Bird will be a cool gadget!

A robotic bird has recently been invented by German company FESTO. This robot flaps its wings to enable it to fly just like seagulls. It is very energy efficient and very cool. I came to know about while feeding my Munias and watching Net25's Convergence. What a coincidence, I got 2 munia's as pets and FESTO released their robotic bird at almost the same time.

According to FESTO officials, the SmartBird is an ultralight but powerful flight model with excellent aerodynamic qualities and extreme agility. With SmartBird, FESTO has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds - one of the oldest dreams of mankind.

The robotic bird can take off and fly and glide more efficiently that cannot be achieved by other flying machines. Speaking of efficiency and safety, can it be envisioned to replaced commercial airlines? My guess is absolutely never! It could become a good hobby though.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

My New Pets: A pair of Munias

While on my home, my usual stop-over is in Sandigan Bayan along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. This place has become a talipapa or Farmer's Wet Market with lots of people converging to sell and buy cheap farmer's produce that are anything under the sun, from cheap t shirts, newly harvested hybrid corns, peanuts cooked food and lots of street foods you could imagine.

I normally don't go out to check any of these items because of the sun's heat until I spotted a woman selling cheap bird pets so I thought I'd check it out. I was surprise how cheap the birds were so without hesitation, I immediately bought a pair of Munias(Lonchura leucogastra). According to the seller, these birds are caught in the rice fields of Nueva Ecija province. I had no idea what kind of bird they were at first and I thought they would die anyway because during my childhood days, I also try to catch similar birds and would really want to keep them as pets but they always die the next day no matter how I try to feed them. They just wont eat anything until they die of hunger.


It has been 3 days after I bought my pair of tiny Munias and still, they are alive and very healthy and playful but they don't chirp. They only chirp when their water is empty. They must have gotten used to the conditions they were into, living in a small cage with plenty of food and water. Maybe after the next 30 days, the female will start to lay eggs and their family will start to grow and I will be needing people to adopt them or maybe I should keep them or set them free. But in the meantime, I will keep them as pets and will serve as my warning gadget.

Just an update:
As of April 17,2011, the 5th day anniversary of my 2 lovely Munias, they are as playful as ever and they are now constantly chirping while playing. A remarkable change it is not like the last 4 days when they are so afraid to chirp. This could only mean that they must have become very familiar with their environment.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

CD-R King Megabeat Sound Bar Speaker is really worth it!

I had been enjoying watching my favorite movies from my 32LD330 LCD TV via my Qube M1 netbook. I am so fascinated by the 720p resolution and it is so clear that it makes me really keep on watching it over and over despite the fact that the sound output is mono. And so I thought I really need a good speaker similar to what I saw in a popular appliance store in Ali Mall, a speaker soundbar. A speaker soundbar is basically a speaker with built-in amplier and gives 3D Surround Sound which is just as good a home theater offers.

I scouted around Araneta Center this morning searching for an affordable but high quality speaker sound bar and well, who else would have it but no other than CD-R King and they call it the Megabeat Sound Bar Speaker.


I am so glad that I bought it because it really meets my expectations. 3D Surround Sound is just what I needed and thats what it gives me aside from the not so loud sound that will not definitely annoy nor disturb my neighbors. The other thing I like about sound bar speakers is that they come in a very nice package and compliments my current hifi setup. It just looks like a dvd player. The one thing that disappoints me is that the 32LD330 is not capable of outputting its sound to an external speaker which can be inconvenient whenever I would want to quickly shift to watch TV shows. But that's just fine, I can live with it.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

LG 32LD330 is worth it!

Watching movies on a big screen tv is never the same with the LG 32LD330. It has been almost 3 months after I bought this outrageously large HDTV and so far, each time I turn it on to watch GMA's telenovelas, I could not help but stay in front of it until wee hours in the morning. Watching all sort of tv programs, and 720p DVD movies is really the best thing that can happen to a man's life.







This tv is very much responsible why my electricity bill shoot up to more than $30 in the past 3 months well because as I have mentioned earlier, it stays open for almost 12 hours straight daily. But that $30 is nothing if I had always gone out to the malls just to eat lunch and access the internet and play DOTA. Thanks to this lg lcd tv, I was able to save more than $2000 if I did spent my time at the malls.

I wonder if it could have been bigger? Something like an lg 42 lcd tv? Maybe it could have been so much better, but for now, I am still so happy this lg lcd tv.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

X-Fi Technology a Creative Labs's Standard Audio Technology

X-Fi Technology is the latest audio standard created by Creative Labs, a Singapore based Technology company and a leading brand in audio technology. X-Fi Technolgy makes your games, music and movies way better. X-Fi technology breathes life into songs. It restores detail and expands your audio to surround sound

This technology is behind the best selling Creative Labs HS-1200 Digital Wireless Gaming Headset. Creative Labs has found a better solution in converting analog audio into digital format and enhance it further before it transforms it back to its original analog format without losing any of the original data giving the audio quality far more superior as compared to other traditional digital to analog and vice versa conversion technology today. The process which is proprietary to Creative Labs is dependent on their in house designed audio processor on X-Fi which is by far the most powerful at its time of release, offering an extremely robust sample rate conversion engine in addition to enhanced internal sound channel routing options and greater 3D audio enhancement capabilities.

This technology according to its designers and creators which composed mainly of the very best Engineers and Scientists, has become much closer to isolating every musical instrument and human voices in the audio. This is what every sound engineers are dreaming of and Creative Labs has moved closer to making this dream almost a reality. If you can just imagine a device that can isolate every piece of instrument in a symphony orchestra? The sound would be as close to listening to them live.

X-Fi Technology has really taken listening experience to the highest level with its superior sound quality output. And the proof of this is the best selling HS-1200 Digital Wireless Gaming Headset which really enjoys rave reviews from its buyers worldwide. This should make Creative Labs a leader in sound technology because they use the best technology and algorithm to produce the X-FI.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Traveltime Again: San Carlos City, Pangasinan

San Carlos City in Pangasinan is such a lovely and vibrant urban area just like Pangasinan's capital town, Lingayen. I basically grew up and went to school in the area and after several years, I thought I should visit the place again check out how things are going over there, especially Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation, my Alma Mater. And I want to share the pictures I saw over the internet(and in facebook in particular) and yes they really look stunning just like what you will see in the following pictures and videos:


VMUF Campus:

Foreign students enjoying playing soccer inside the VMUF campus:

VMUF Commercial:
While inside the campus, I tried to browse the internet with mg Qube M1 Netbook through the schools 10MBPS WIFI service because I forgot to bring my cellphone and oh yeah, it was really blazingly fast. And speaking of cellphone, I really really love this very futuristic and very slick design:
The whole phone is made up of transparent plastic material...aint that so cool?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Traveltime: Lingayen, Pangasinan

I recently visited this very historic place in the Philippines and I am not disappointed with what I saw. I really enjoyed my trip and want to share some pictures of what I saw. In general, the sprawling complex has so much to offer, it is not overcrowded with people, and there so many beautiful things that the eye can feast on.


The Capitol Bldg at night is such a beauty:
source: Reviving Urduja

This is the Pangasinan Capitol Building...one of the Architectural Treasures of the Philippines.


The front and back of the capitol building is a sprawling park. The Governor of the province is planning to transform the surrounding areas of the capitol grounds to be the next major Central Business District in the Philippines similar to Makati, Ortigas Center and Fort Bonifacio.

At ground level, the park is so green:

Aside from the Capitol Bldg and its park, there are also three other beautifully restored bldgs around it, these are the Urduja House, Sison Auditorium, the Capitol Resorts.

The Urduja House is the official residence of the governor, and here are some photos of it taken from another blog:


There is also a must see which is the interior of the Sison Auditorium(it is a mulitpurpose bldg suitable as a venue for theatrical plays and musicals, conventions and exhibitions, concerts, etc), which I think is perhaps 100% more beautiful than Metro Manila's CCP:

 source: pangasinan.gov.ph

And here's another interesting view of the interior taken at a different angle:
source: Reviving Urduja
And finally, the Capitol Resort Hotel:


source:flickr

At the back of this building is the famous Lingayen Gulf and is the place of the most romantic and beautiful Sunset.

You can view this famous Sunset at the rooftop of the Capitol Building. I stayed there overnight and strolled early in the morning and jogged at their huge track and field stadium.

Their downtown is also a place of interest because there are 2 big malls and a lot of fast food restaurants like Jollibee and McDonald's.

Update: Lingayen Capitol Grounds has new tourist attraction: The Lingayen Baywalk is currently being extended to the adjacent town. 
source:tumblr

And a new tourist wharf is being planned to be constructed along the baywalk:
update as of 4/21/2016:
The tourist wharf was cancelled but there are a few major tourism related projects that were currently implemented which includes the restoration of the Spanish-era Pangasinan Capitol Bldg, a new Limahong Museum along the Agno River and a high rise Condotel bldg.
 
Update: 10/04/2022:
A lot of new developments has happened in surrounding areas of the Capitol Grounds. Unfortunately, the planned condotel did pushed through, but so many resorts were put up along the bay walk area. I grabbed several youtube videos for you to enjoy:



Another interesting point of interest is the Daang Kalikasan which was voted as the Country's Highway with the most beautiful view by a certain youtuber(sorry I cant remember his name, I think it was "SefTV"). I grabbed an image from the internet(I have not gone there y myself but I heard that it is really beautiful.