From Mona Lisa to Mickey Mouse, a Philippine guesthouse owner
has pieced together over a thousand jigsaw puzzles, and on Thursday
her collection was officially declared the world's largest.
"It was just a hobby at first. It takes away my stress," Gina
Gil Lacuna, 61, told AFP as she was awarded her certificate of
recognition by Guinness World Records.
But the pastime, which she took up 26 years ago, turned into an
obsession that has seen her collect a total 1,028 different
puzzles, framed wall to wall at her two-story bed and
breakfast.
The puzzles form pictures of religious figures, animals and
landscapes, and even Philippine President Benigno Aquino, with the
largest containing over 18,000 pieces.
Her guesthouse, in the resort city of Tagaytay just outside the
Philippine capital, is known as "Puzzle Mansion".
"She is very disciplined lady. Every day, she spends three or
four hours doing puzzles," said Guinness adjudicator Seyda Subasi
Gemici, adding that all the jigsaws had to be different and with
all the pieces complete to count towards the total.
Her collection surpasses the previous record of 238 puzzles held
by a Brazilian woman, Guinness officials said, and she is already
working on 20 new puzzles so she can retain her title.
