Ascending the Mountain of the Accumulation of Virtue

In my high school days I voraciously read the collections of the National Geographic magazines in our school library.  I was fascinated by the places I read and the maps presented on the magazine.  I began to develop an interest for Indonesia.  An archipelago with such diverse people and culture.  One thing I really like about Indonesia are it's people.  The Indonesians are very friendly and tolerant.  I would opine that perhaps this sense of tolerance have made Indonesia a nation on its own right and it also contributed to the preservation of various artifacts.  I have read so much about Borobudur in the Central Part of Java. Thus when the opportunity came to visit Indonesia in 2008.  I put on my itinerary a short visit to Jogjakarta.  Jogjakarta like Aceh enjoys a special administrative status being the center of Javanese culture and also of Islamic culture.Way back in 2008 I had this opportunity to attend a training in Bandung and I decided to have a short visit to Jogjakarta.  From Jakarta I took Adam Air for Jogjakarta.  One thing that impressed me was the standard of living which make it easy for anyone to be.  I did not spend a fortune to enjoy this beautiful and mystical place. 

 The Entrance to the Monument

Each of these Contain a Figure of the Buddha

The walls were lined up with epic stories carved in stones

The Sukarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta

On top of the Hill

There were several of these figures of the Bodhisattva

The City Jogjakarta in the Horizon as seen from Adam Air

Jogjakarta International Airport

Reminiscing Uppsala

In 2008, I had the rare opportunity to visit Uppsala, Sweden because of the sponsorship I got to participate in the Top Level Seminar on Peace and Security at the Uppsala University.  Prior to this I had my readings about Sweden and I was impressed by the history of the place.  Before leaving for Sweden I was already armed with knowledge of the history of the country and of the locality of which I am staying.  I never expected to arrived on a snowy day and much more on a snowstorm.  They said it was unusual to have that kind of weather early December.  Usually the snow comes later in winter.  Uppsala is a wonderful city.  Indeed it is a University town,  Home to the famous Uppsala University.  I visited some of its important landmarks and I will share with you some of this pictures.  Hope you enjoy.  These are my photos.

Uppsala Cathedral, the National Shrine of the Church of Sweden (Lutheran)

Probaly part of Uppsala University?

The facade of the Cathedral

The Nave of the Cathedral

I observed that sometimes they used different altar tables for Mass

This is the High Altar

The Ornate pulpit at the Cathedral.  I attended one of the noon masses here.  After the mass I greeted the organist and complemented the beautiful music.  I introduced myself as a Filipino and all of a sudden he mentioned about the famous bamboo organ in Las Pinas, Philippines.  That's how popular the Bamboo Organ is even  this Swedish organist knows something about the bamboo organ.

This is me.  While taking a little walk I requested two students to take my photo.

A monument in Honr of Karl Gustav XIV