History Making is Puzzle-playing

Photo by Your City Promdi

This is the story of a woman who put the Philippines in the map, and another who saw history and a story through her work. This is a story of my quest to find the Puzzle Museum.

A mystery

It as on a Sunday evening news magazine when I was in university that I first heard about Puzzle Museum, and I've always been curious as to why and how it became the second largest collection of puzzle pieces. How many puzzles could there be, I naively asked as I think about my childhood toys? How many items could there be, in order to be the second largest? How much did it all cost? Perhaps most importantly, when can I go?

The hunt

The when came over a full decade after I first saw the news magazine on television. I found myself in Tagaytay on a rainy afternoon with nothing to fill my time. With only Google for company, I decided to visit this place. And 'quest' is exactly how it felt like to me.

I went via jeepney on what seemed like a ride that went on forever. With the driver's help, I was able to go to a tricycle stand that will take me further into a wooded area that I thought could only lead to a cliff. Gathering my courage, I went.

The tricycle dropped me off in front of a large gate, where a security guard was giving instructions. Private vehicles can go down a steep sloping driveway to the museum that I could just see. Commuters like me have to walk down. So I did--and met this beautiful view of the old mansion that serves as the museum, the surrounding gardens, and the wet Tagaytay vista.

Down the slope I went, paid the museum fee, went through a huge lobby with seating areas and walked farther down a series of stone steps that took me through lush gardens and on to the museum proper.

Photo by Your City Promdi

The answers

Photo by Your City Promdi

Inside, I found two whole building story teeming with thousands of puzzles. There were so many, and so much variety! It was astonishing!

Some were so big, they can fill an entire wall; others so tiny, they have to be viewed within a foot away. Some were laid flat, framed; others were assembled into intricate three-dimensional pieces, as in sets of dinosaurs, buildings, entire cities and globes. 

The themes and subjects of the puzzles that make up the collection are disparate and wildly different, as they had been collected through decades and across continents. The lady who owned the collection was a successful businesswoman, and traveled the world. Whenever she visits a place, she makes it a point to get new puzzles to add to her collection. Later on, as she became more serious with her hobby, she will place orders and hunt for special, limited edition pieces. She will come home and spend days--sometimes months working on the puzzles--and then she will pour protective layers of glue or lacquer. Most of the puzzles on the display bear their respective origin and the period of time she worked on them.

The woman herself is Georgina Gil-Lacuna. Entrepreneur and self-made woman, her passion has built a museum that set records and, to this day, bears witness to her incredible life.