Miss Iggy Says Happy Easter with (The Real) Winnie The Pooh & Friends!

Ever wondered what the real Winnie The Pooh looks like? Just visit the Children's Center at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library on 42nd St. and you'll see the original bear that inspired the works of A.A. Milne! Since 1987, Winnie and his friends have called New York their home.

Winnie the Pooh was a gift by A.A. Milne to his son Christopher on his first birthday on August 21, 1921. He was bought from Harrods department store in London and was originally named "Edward." Later on, more stuffed toys followed which became Winnie's group of friends. Each toy was well-loved and well-played by Christopher throughout his childhood that it shows in the tattered appearance of the bunch.

Can you spot where Piglet is on the display? For more fun facts about the Real Winnie the Pooh, hop on here!

going beyond borders

jersey iggy exclaims: "to literacy and beyond!"

she was at fortuitous faery's favorite bookstore, borders, last night. although she lives close to one (two, actually) in her own neighborhood, she decided to drop by this branch in livingston, new jersey.

this store is not just for book-lovers, but also for people looking to buy DVDs, music, cards and stationery, games and gift items. inside almost every borders store is a seattle's best coffee nook where people can read and sip a hot cup of coffee...with wi-fi provided by t-mobile.

borders is based in ann arbor, michigan and operates around 1,100 stores worldwide, in countries such as australia, singapore, malaysia, oman, the UK & UAE.

miss iggy was browsing her favorite aisle: the travel section. she wants to go to mexico.

miss iggy came home happy because she snagged bargain postcard booklets of new jersey and atlantic lighthouses. miss iggy loves bargains!

Miss Igorota and Howie Severino

miss iggy was giggly as she kept spying on Howie Severino at the recently-concluded PEN (Poets & Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists) Conference held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila. the conference topic was on "Literature from the Margins: Changes in the Literary Canon". Dr. Luna Sucat-Cleto presented a paper on her position as a novelist and cited blogging as one of the ways writers today establish their own space in a wild world of literary chaos. Miss Igorota though, has a blog, and goes everywhere. she has all the space she could ever want!

Howie Severino is one of the better-known journalists/documentarists here in the Philippines. after the conference, Howie sweetly smiled at gingmaganda. maybe he caught Miss Iggy and gingmaganda spying on him, haha.

Manila International Bookfair 2008

it's great that events like these are so well-attended that it rivals the population density of divisoria during christmas time. according to a recent study by the Philippine National Book Development Board, the number of Filipinos who consider reading as a hobby has increased. and with events like these, where a multitude books are sold at discount prices, love for reading will still go strong in the midst of cybertechnology and instant gratification.

miss igorota is happy to meet some of the best-known book characters in Filipino Childrens Literature:


si Matsing at Pagong. (monkey and turtle). monkey thinks it is better to plant the upper half of the banana tree, the one with leaves and thinks that he has outwitted the turtle who took the lower half.


errr... miss iggy forgot to check who this is. she could be some important bird though, heh.


with mariang makiling. a goddess who lives in the mountain and helps the people.

and juan tamad (lazy juan) displaying an extreme case of vegetarianism. rather than plucking the fruit off the branch and hurting the entire tree, he waits for the fruit to fall naturally and land in his mouth. or he could be just the laziest bum ever. we don't know for sure.

the book fair ends today. kudos to Ilustrador ng Kabataan (InK) for the utterly wonderful sculptures. most books are published by Adarna House.

more photos here.