Abagatanen White Beach - Agno Pangasinan

     I've been trying to search in google for a white sandy beach near Alaminos City.  I don't want to travel longer than an hour because it will be very tiresome afterwards for the kids and I have a daughter who just turned one.   A neighbor told me they knew a white sandy beach an hour or less travel time from where we live in.  We rent a jeep for P1,200 to get there - Alaminos to Agno, Abagatanen. 

     On our way to Abagatanen, we were able to see another beach where the famous Umbrella Rocks of Agno are located.  There are cottages and bathrooms near the road.

Umbrella Rocks Beach Resort

Low tide at Umbrella Rocks - Agno

    On our way to Abagatanen there are many heavy equipment as the road is being developed so probably next year it will be very easy to get there.

  
      It took us about an hour because of the road construction.  The beach is not yet developed, they said that a foreigner just discovered the beauty of Abagatanen and invested money so that soon it will be more accessible to tourists and fully developed. 

Road still under construction the Abagatanen beach can be seen from this point.

Abagatanen beach.

Wonderful view of the sea while going to Abagatanen.

Low tide.

      There are only a couple of cottages in Abagatanen, you can get one for only P300.  There are no bathrooms yet but the owner of the cottage we rent said that we can use their bathroom.  Even though their bathroom doesn't have a roof it's really clean. 

Abagatanen White Sandy Beach

Cottage at Abagatanen.

     We bought our own food.  There are mini stores but supplies are very limited so better bring anything you need.  Since we hired a jeep we were able to bring folding beds and even my daughter's crib so everything is easy for us.  My kids can sleep in the folding bed and my daughter stays most of the time in her crib.  

Our cottage for P300

      I've been to lots of different beaches now but only here in Abagaten I was able to fully enjoy the beach.  I was able to stay in the water until 4 in the afternoon without feeling that the sun is too hot for my skin.  In other beaches even when I am in the cottages it felt really hot as if the skin on my face is burning. My kids can't stay longer in the water because the sun is scorching hot.  But here in Abagatanen we don't have problems like that, it's our first time not to use sunscreen and we didn't have serious sun burns.

Water is crystal clear and very calm in the morning

You can buy seafood caught by the fishermen if you are early enough to arrive in Abagatanen

      The sand in Abagaten beach is not as white but it is as powdery as the white beach in the famous Boracay Island.  The water is crystal clear and it is not too deep. Beach is suitable for snorkeling and other water activities especially in the morning as the water is very calm from 6am to 10am. 

     There's a small lagoon on the left side of the cove.  Water is very clear inside, children can play there as it is not as hot because about 3 huge rocks gives shade inside the lagoon.  While going to the lagoon you will notice that there are huge rocks under the water.  There's lots of rocks on this part of the beach but the water is still very clear.  When you walk along those rocks the bottom doesn't get murky.

Between the two huge rocks is the entrance to the lagoon.

There are big rocks at the bottom of the water when going to the lagoon.

Inside the lagoon, in the middle of the picture is the entrance.

Inside the lagoon.

Inside the lagoon my son snorkeling.

Huge rocks above the lagoon.

 

Part of the lagoon where the water goes back to the sea.

You can climb up the rocks and jump down in the water.

Buy Apps in Google Play Using Your Globe Mobile Load

     The simplest way to buy Apps in Google Play is using your Globe Mobile Load.  All subscribers, Prepaid or Postpaid can pay for their app purchases.  The only disadvantage of this is that you are subjected to a 12% Value-Added Tax.  This means that if you are going to purchase Meteor Bounce at the price of P43.00, you will be paying P48.16.

     Here's how:

1.  You first need to select the App you wanted to buy.

2.  In the payment options menu, select Enable Globe Telecom Billing.

3.  Register your Globe cellphone number, name and address (you no longer need to enter those details in your future transactions).  You just need to enter your Google ID and password in your next purchases.
    

Meteor Bounce

 

This is the main page.  Click Let's Play to start the game

     The very first Android App that we made is Meteor Bounce.  The goal of the game is to simply shoot meteors into portals until you finish all the levels.  Just simply aim the meteor on the blocks to bounce to shoot inside the portals.   It took us about a month to finish it.  We made it in HTML5.  It's already available in Google Play Store.  Below is the link:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.meteorbounce&hl=en


     There's a Normal and Hard option of the game.  In Normal Mode, there's a lot of meteors available to throw so you will have enough time to get the right timing to shoot the meteors inside the portals.  In Hard Mode, the same rule but portals are moving making it a little tricky to shoot meteors and there's less meteors to throw. 

     There are 60 Levels to complete in this game.  You cannot proceed to the next level until you have not completed the last level you played.  Once you finish a level you can play it over again to mark the best score.

     Screen shot of Level 11.  The least number of meteors used in a level will be recorded as the Best Shot.  There's a Return, Refresh, Sound On/Off and Power buttons on the left side of the screen. 
    

     Every time you finish a level this page will be seen, showing the best shot from a particular level.

Google Play Developer Console Account Step by Step

     We started making an app for android last month and now that we're done, I was thinking of selling it to Google Play. We needed first to make a Developer Account Console on Google.  I will post here the step-by-step procedure on how to have an account.

1.  Sign in with your google account.  If you don't have one yet, just simply create a gmail account and log in there so we can get to the next procedure.

2.  Accept Developer Agreement.  This is the picture you are going to see next.  You need to check the box that says:  I agree and I am willing to associate my account with the Google Play Developer distribution agreement.  Then click Continue to payment.

3. Pay the Registration Fee.  You need to have a credit card to pay the registration fee and it cost $25.  In our case, we don't have a credit card.  We opened a Prepaid Card account at Metro Bank.  It took us about an hour to process the application.  The account is already activated and we were able to deposit P1,500 which is enough to pay the registration fee. The bank charges P25 every time you deposit on your Prepaid Card.  On the same day we were able to make our developers console account.

4.  Set Up a Google Wallet.  Fill up all necessary information to complete the payment.  Then click Accept and Continue.  Review your purchase then click Buy.

5. Next you are going to see this pop up that says Your Payment is Still Processing... It took about 24 hours to process our payment but from here you can click Continue Registration.

6. Complete Your Account Details.  Just fill up the rest of the application then click Complete Registration.

7. While your payment is still processing, which will take up to 48 hours, you can already start to upload APK's and prepare Store listings but not publish any applications yet.  You will be notified when your payment went through and you can publish your application.

Exotic Food in the Farm

     I was able to try exotic foods here... I have tried frog (palakang bukid), python snake (sawa) and a monitor lizard.  A friend gave me a cooked poisonous snake but I did not eat it.  Well... he said it's from a poisonous snake so why would I eat it?  But they do here... part where the venom was located already removed so it's edible, I just can't try it.  I can't take chances lol.

     First picture below is a meat of a python snake or what they call here sawa.  They are huge reticulated pythons and they eat mostly chickens. Since it's not a poisonous snake I tried a couple of pieces and was surprised I was able to like it.

Python Snake (Sawa)

      Below is a Monitor Lizard.  One has to put a trap with a bait to capture this one.  This is rarely seen on markets.  You needed to order from some of the hunters and it is quite expensive.  This one is caught in our farm so it's free.

A Huge Monitor Lizard, about 1.5 meters long.

This is a monitor lizard's meat... the best tasting meat I have tried. 

     Frog meat... I never really thought I'd eat something like it.  It taste just like ham maybe because it was cooked with pineapples.  Not bad since it tastes like ham.

Frog's Meat

Poisonous Snake

Meat of the poisonous snake... doesn't looked good too so I really can't eat it.

The Farm

     I was not able to post in here for quite some time... we moved to a farm and there's no reliable internet connection in the area.  I was able to view webpages and emails but uploading and downloading files were impossible so I got tired of trying.

     We are currently residing in the city of the province we lived in... Alaminos City where everything is accessible and now I can finally continue blogging.  We visit the farm when we have the time, we just need to earn more so we can continue improving what we have started.  I'm going to post things that we have accomplished in the farm.  So far, only few improvements were made since we needed a bigger budget to do major improvements there.

    
 The farm is almost 4 hectares and it is beautifully landscaped by nature.  Part A is where we built the house, it is where we can plant rice and vegetables and there's also a near pond wherein we can put some tilapia fingerlings.  Part B is where we can put cows, carabao's or goats or even native pigs.  There are 7 century old mango trees in this area, mango fruits are abundant during the summer season.

Part B

Part B - carabao grass everywhere

Palm Trees which are Areca Catechu trees.  There's a spring behind those palm trees.

Part B - we put the deep well in here, my husband pump the water and it goes directly through the house through this huge hose.

Part B

    

Part A of the map, this is the view in front of the house.  Main road can be seen from here so we can hear and see vehicles coming in and out of the community we live in.

First day of the construction of the house.

We needed to cut down a couple of trees which will be needed int he construction.

One of our friends were able to catch a poisonous snake.

Doing the footing of the house.

About more than a week and this is what is done.

      At the moment, a room, kitchen and a 16sqm bathroom was made.  Only a small part of the house and we needed to start the construction again since summer is coming.  It is the only time of the year where the materials can be delivered near our house.

     There are plenty of pineapples at the back of our house.  We are able to harvest about 5 pineapples a week. I just put the flesh in the blender and sieve it to remove the fibers and we'll have pure organic pineapple juice most of the time.  My husband still need to climb up a tree to see where the ripe ones are... I think there are more than a hundred pineapple plants here.  We're so lucky they are already growing here in the farm and have propagated on their own through their slips or suckers.  One pineapple plant can have about 4 to 6 slips and when we harvested the fruits, my husband and I patiently planted each of them.

Plenty of pineapples plants.

Pineapple on the lower part have 3 slips/suckers which can be planted to propagate them.

     We are able to plant some vegetables... and the benefits are very rewarding.  We also have some chickens and ducks. Next time we'll have more... we just need to improve it more so things will be so much easier.

    

Muscovado Sugar

Nature's Muscovado Specialty Sugar P114 per 1kg

     I've been using muscovado sugar for more than a year now.  I use it in our coffee, milk, fruit juices and also for cooking.  Muscovado sugar retains all of the natural ingredients of sugar cane, making it a healthy alternative to white sugar . High in nutritional value, comparable even to pure honey. Muscovado sugar is unrefined, with a high mineral content.  White sugar on the other hand is bleached with chemicals to remove the molasses.  The refining process  for producing white sugar have eliminated all traces of nutrients in it.

     My kids got used to muscovado flavor in their milk, the sugar cane flavor made them think I am putting chocolate in it.  It's good to introduce healthier options to children while they are still young, so they consume less chemical foods while they are growing up.


     I buy Nature's Muscovado Specialty Sugar for P114 per 1kg packaging  at Robinson's Supermarket.  In it's packaging, they claim that it's pesticide free wherein no synthetic chemical pesticides and herbicides are used from planting to harvesting of the sugarcane. It also went through a chemical-free process, absolutely no synthetic chemical additives nor has it been bleached or stripped of the flavor of sugar cane.

PASSI Premium Raw Cane Sugar P22 per 500g

     If the recipe I'm going to cook or bake calls for white sugar, I use PASSI Premium Raw Cane Sugar for P22 per 500g packaging.  This brand smells and taste better than the regular washed sugar I used to buy in the market, plus it comes in a resealable pack.