Like a pirate, I’ve been chasing this voyage for years and luckily this time, AHOY! I’m aboard!
Together with two best colleague friends, we braved the heart of Manila to finally get on board to this traveling book fair that has been evading our schedules for the past several years. It was on the same day when the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members gathered together for a prayer rally in Luneta Park. The consequence of what might be the effect of this rally did not intimidate us because this is the only best time among our schedules that we could go together.
So off we go to our adventure that begun at the first sight of the actual ship and the walk way leading to the ticket booth.
We were greeted at the entrance by a very friendly and accommodating Greek female crew who patiently answered my queries. I learned from her that :
WELCOME ABOARD
Once aboard, you will be greeted again by the very accommodating and friendly foreign crews. You will be invited to sit in the lifeboat theater, where you will learn what it’s like to live in their unique ship. They will also let you look inside a crew cabin and see an illustrated history of GBA Ships.
BOOK FAIR
Now the main event! The world’s largest floating book fair where you will find over 5,000 titles of books. The books are priced in units with a poster chart that helps to convert the price to our currency.
Neatly stacked shopping baskets. Price/Chart Converter. Shopping/Souvenir bags @PhP50.00/pc
The ship carries a stock of half a million books with thousand of titles and topics that includes literature, music, science, technology, sports, hobbies, cookery, the arts, history, and languages. Majority of the books are for children. They also carry instructional DVD’s and VCD’s.
more books! (and lots and lots and lots more)
While you enjoy your book shopping, a cheerful voice speaking in the Filipino language with an obvious foreign accent will talk in the PA microphone from time to time, welcoming everyone and encouraging guests to give some donations. A young male Malaysian crew was in-charge during our visit and he also entertained the guests with some of his (magic) tricks.
cashing out – Please Donate :)
JOURNEY OF LIFE
A series of wall murals tells the story of the prodigal son’s journey.
THEATER
You will never know exactly what you will chance upon but it usually offers an ever-changing glimpse into the works of the ship. You will learn a lot from the crew members who have a variety of job on the ships.
INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ
You can enjoy an ice cream cone, a drink, popcorn and other snacks while you relax in the I-Café. It is here where the crew members connect with the visitors, they share what made their culture unique, encourage the guests to tell their own stories, play with the kids and treat them with face paints and balloons.
HUGE vanilla ice cream cone – definitely made my day
On the way to the exit, you will find the “Life X-perience” corner where significant issues mostly about youth are being discussed. Some guests and participants share or leave a note of their experiences and thoughts.
The Logos Hope is a community of 400 unpaid volunteers from over 45 different countries who lives and works together for one purpose – to bring knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world. Most crew members are in their 20s or 30s. The volunteers, who are not paid, include seafarers, engineers, electricians, nurses, teachers and cooks. Sponsorship from friends, family members, and civic organization enables the crew to serve on board. I heard that there at least three Filipinos among the crew volunteers. Apart from being known as the floating book fair, Logos Hope also seeks to provide aid and relief in needy situations and bring long-term change in each port. The Philippines is one lucky sea to be visited by this worthy voyage.
Come and bring your family and have this beautiful experience aboard the ship that brings knowledge, help and hope. For more information about Logos Hope/GBA Ships, you can visit their website at www.logoshope.org.
Docking schedules of Logos Hope in Philippine Ports:
Cebu: Jan. 10 – Feb. 14, 2012
Manila: Feb. 16 – March 14, 2012
Subic: March 15 – April 4, 2012
Batangas: June 6 – June 26, 2012
CURRENT LOCATION:
Pier 15, Port Area Manila
(Eva Macapagal Super Terminal – behind Manila Hotel)
Open for Visitors:
Tuesdays - Saturdays: 10AM – 9:30PM
Sundays: 1:30PM – 9:30PM
I hope that you will share back with me your Logos Hope experience.
Now on our misadventure…
We had a great time aboard the Logos Hope. We have some great finds of books and souvenirs. As to what happened on our way back home deserves a separate post. Watch out as I continue to share our (mis)adventures that started when we disembarked from Logos Hope. A real Balut Manila adventure
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| this is actually a souvenir poster that I photographed |
So off we go to our adventure that begun at the first sight of the actual ship and the walk way leading to the ticket booth.
My two excited friends in the photo. It was around 2PM and was freaking hot - 30oC.
We were greeted at the entrance by a very friendly and accommodating Greek female crew who patiently answered my queries. I learned from her that :
- “Logos” is a Greek word that means “Word of God”
- “Logos Hope” replaced “MV Doulos”. GBA Ships who operates the floating book fair sold/retired MV Doulos.
- “Doulos” is also a Greek word that means “faithful servant”.
WELCOME ABOARD
Once aboard, you will be greeted again by the very accommodating and friendly foreign crews. You will be invited to sit in the lifeboat theater, where you will learn what it’s like to live in their unique ship. They will also let you look inside a crew cabin and see an illustrated history of GBA Ships.
BOOK FAIR
Now the main event! The world’s largest floating book fair where you will find over 5,000 titles of books. The books are priced in units with a poster chart that helps to convert the price to our currency.
Neatly stacked shopping baskets. Price/Chart Converter. Shopping/Souvenir bags @PhP50.00/pc
The ship carries a stock of half a million books with thousand of titles and topics that includes literature, music, science, technology, sports, hobbies, cookery, the arts, history, and languages. Majority of the books are for children. They also carry instructional DVD’s and VCD’s.
more books! (and lots and lots and lots more)
Souvenir sections!
While you enjoy your book shopping, a cheerful voice speaking in the Filipino language with an obvious foreign accent will talk in the PA microphone from time to time, welcoming everyone and encouraging guests to give some donations. A young male Malaysian crew was in-charge during our visit and he also entertained the guests with some of his (magic) tricks.
cashing out – Please Donate :)
JOURNEY OF LIFE
A series of wall murals tells the story of the prodigal son’s journey.
We had much fun in this area. Good thing there were no kids around when we're doing some funny craziness. LOL!
THEATER
You will never know exactly what you will chance upon but it usually offers an ever-changing glimpse into the works of the ship. You will learn a lot from the crew members who have a variety of job on the ships. INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ
You can enjoy an ice cream cone, a drink, popcorn and other snacks while you relax in the I-Café. It is here where the crew members connect with the visitors, they share what made their culture unique, encourage the guests to tell their own stories, play with the kids and treat them with face paints and balloons.
HUGE vanilla ice cream cone – definitely made my day
On the way to the exit, you will find the “Life X-perience” corner where significant issues mostly about youth are being discussed. Some guests and participants share or leave a note of their experiences and thoughts.
The Logos Hope is a community of 400 unpaid volunteers from over 45 different countries who lives and works together for one purpose – to bring knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world. Most crew members are in their 20s or 30s. The volunteers, who are not paid, include seafarers, engineers, electricians, nurses, teachers and cooks. Sponsorship from friends, family members, and civic organization enables the crew to serve on board. I heard that there at least three Filipinos among the crew volunteers. Apart from being known as the floating book fair, Logos Hope also seeks to provide aid and relief in needy situations and bring long-term change in each port. The Philippines is one lucky sea to be visited by this worthy voyage.
Come and bring your family and have this beautiful experience aboard the ship that brings knowledge, help and hope. For more information about Logos Hope/GBA Ships, you can visit their website at www.logoshope.org.
Docking schedules of Logos Hope in Philippine Ports:
Cebu: Jan. 10 – Feb. 14, 2012Manila: Feb. 16 – March 14, 2012
Subic: March 15 – April 4, 2012
Batangas: June 6 – June 26, 2012
CURRENT LOCATION:
Pier 15, Port Area Manila
(Eva Macapagal Super Terminal – behind Manila Hotel)
Open for Visitors:
Tuesdays - Saturdays: 10AM – 9:30PM
Sundays: 1:30PM – 9:30PM
I hope that you will share back with me your Logos Hope experience.
Now on our misadventure…
We had a great time aboard the Logos Hope. We have some great finds of books and souvenirs. As to what happened on our way back home deserves a separate post. Watch out as I continue to share our (mis)adventures that started when we disembarked from Logos Hope. A real Balut Manila adventure
nice one...mukhang maganda dyan ah...sana makapunta din ako dun..di pa kasi ako nakakapasok ng barko..eheh mahilig ka pala sa books...
ReplyDeletethanks! it's really nice dito. you need to go for triple purpose,
Delete1st - ma-experience mo ang sumakay ng barko
2nd - explore/buy the books
3rd - part of your purchases will go to donation.
yep sobrang hilig ko sa books. Annually nag-a-attend kami ng Manila International Book Fair (MIBF):)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletenice one balut! very informative! how i wish they will reroute back to cebu and head to cagayan de oro (where i'm currently staying). basing from your pics, it's quite bigger than MV Doulos, right? plus, having a cozy cafe is such a bonus! :D i'd love to buy books and support them, one day. or maybe perhaps next year. i had to keep their annual scheds on my planner :)
ReplyDeletethanks jigz! aaaw you missed it :( i Didn't had the chance to board MV Doulos (sayang). their technical length/dimension says Doulos is 130.35 vs. Logos 132.50 so just about the same size.
Deletethe cafe = it's really cozy. I've some more pics but I can't put them all in this post lol. yep marked their scheds and I'll tweet you once their around the next time :)
and btw! am looking forward reading the stories behind your awesome photographs :P soon? ha ha
OMG! I didn't know about this! I should have gone as well. Anyway, thanks for the pictures, it made me feel like I went myself. Ganda at ang galing! I see that you had fun!
ReplyDeleteJust hopping to say thank you for the warm wishes over my friend's death and for hopping na din in my other blog. God bless and keep in touch!
Rona you gotta go! they'll be in Manila Pier till 3/13 hurry! T'was really FUN! and informative and touching to be there:)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome dear, my pleasure to do so :) God Bless us all ;)
Balut, thanks for sharing this. I gotta get on board before she leaves manila. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Rence and yes you must :) and please share the info also.
DeleteI saw the foreign crews in Manila streets during the INC prayer rally with the awful manila heat and traffic and I am really moved with their perseverance. Plus, it's a great experience to be on board ;)
We went here too last January, katuwa! Pad dating namin, ang konti ng tao, tas maya maya nagsidatingan ang napakaraming estudyante, para kaming kinuyog, ang gulo lang, haha! Pero naibili ko rin si Chin ng pasalubong na book.
ReplyDeleteGood to know you've been aboard to this amazing voyage. They need people like you to keep them "afloat".
DeleteBalik tayo when they come back next year :)