the story of miss igorota

once upon a time, there were two bloggers named conniechiwa (fortuitous faery) and gingmaganda. one summer day in march 2008, conniechiwa and gingmaganda met in cainta, philippines and the latter gave the former an igorota doll from strawberry farm in benguet province as a souvenir to take to new jersey. conniechiwa promised by text that she will take the doll everywhere she goes and christened her “miss igorota.”

it was then that conniechiwa decided to turn her doll into her travel mascot, inspired greatly by the following:

• the traveling gnome in the movie “amelie”,
• the traveling domokun doll in ljcfyi’s blog,
• the lonely planet guide to experimental travel (bought on sale at national bookstore), chapter on "mascot travel".
• the need to alleviate the frustration of not having her self-portrait at tourist destinations. ergo, miss igorota is my traveling "alter-ego."
  

and here are 7 random facts about miss iggy.

this photoblog was launched as a collaborative pet—er, doll project by the abovementioned bloggers. gingmaganda suggested that we create at least 500 unique travel photos featuring our igorota dolls to promote travel photography and perhaps even tourism to benguet province—native home of these dolls.

the blog was originally named "mga lakwatsa ni miss igorota" which is filipino for "the travels of miss igorota", but later changed it to "postcards from miss igorota" to give it a more "global" flair. and besides, most of the ladies blogging for miss igorota turn out to be members of postcrossing.

the photos shown here are authentic in that they were not altered to simulate the doll's presence in the locations featured. in other words, miss iggy really went to these places! :)

we invite you to watch miss igorota as she journeys to different places! we will appreciate your cheering us on! :)