" BRINGING KNOWLEDGE, HELP AND HOPE
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD."
"Doulos visits port cities throughout the world, supplying vital literature resources, encouraging inter-cultural understanding, training young people for more effective life and service, promoting greater global awareness, providing practical aid and sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is opportunity."
I was very lucky to have visited MV Doulos last Saturday, 14 March. My brother-in-law just heard about the floating bookstore and suggested we go there the next time we get together (yeah he knew I loved books -- ok, ok, that I am addicted to books). I had no idea how lucky we were at that time, since there were no lines in the entrance. I actually doubted if a lot of people knew about them -- but I was wrong :D
Err... ok.. that doesn't seem like a LOT of people, but that's because I was too excited to browse the books to actually take a good picture. haha! Trust me, the deeper into the deck you go, the more suffocating it becomes... not to the point of fainting of course, but enough to make you sticky and sweaty with all the people pushing everywhere and browsing titles. BUT if you have an insatiable hunger for books (who, me?), you'd hardly notice anything else since your eyes would be rolling from one shelf to the other, looking for familiar titles and prospective reads.
Ok, they were primarily inspirational/spiritual books, a LOT of children's books, and health/diet recipe books. There were also trivia books, Do-It-Yourself books and souvenirs. Plus I found a shelf full of hardbound Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery novels, which I am currently seriously regretting not buying. They were just P250/pc! Imagine, a hardbound novel? You could hardly find Nancy Drew in bookstores now, right? Plus, I saw a John Grisham (i think, not really a fan though) hardbound novel for just P500. AAAAAAARGH. stupid stupid me for not bringing more money. Believe it or not, the first book I ever picked up to buy was an inspirational book for my mom & dad. It was in abundance. I would also have loaded myself with disney activity books for P100-P300 bucks -- if only I had kids. It was such a shame I couldn't buy more!!
But I did manage to buy a couple (okay, 3 of them) of mystery novels -- they were classified as juvenile fiction (read: for teenagers) but the stories were good for me too (yep, I already finished 2 of them yesterday). Plus I got a free MV Doulos eco-friendly bag! a very nice souvenir. For a more personalized souvenir shot, here I am...
...beside one of the lifeboats hahaha! I made sure I knew where they were, and how to use them:
Better be safe than sorry! hahaha, kidding! Oh yeah, pardon the pictures -- I was merely using my phone's camera.
Here's picture of the boat from below:
and here's the view of the... uhrm... chimney-like thingie up there:
Yep, it says there "GBA", which, from their website, used to stand for "Good Books for All". This private, non-profit organization was registered in Germany -- with the intention of spreading the love -- through this boat.
Unfortunately, my officemate recently stumbled upon an article which said that the boat would be retiring in 2010 -- so this may be its last voyage to the Philippines.....
To the MV Doulos crew, kudos to you for spreading hope and love to the world.
May there be a Doulos II in the future.
For those who are interested, MV Doulos is at Pier 13 until the end of this month. They are near Eva Macapagal Super Terminal. Just ask any of the guards at the Pier, they know.
