A Ship Called Doulos

There was once an announcement of the return of one of the famous vessels to sail the waters of the world. They call themselves the floating United Nations for you could clearly see the representation from each continent. It was a wonderful sight, giving you hope for the possibility of Utopia, if certain things were met.

Enough of the philosophical introspection, just to keep it straight, I'm talking about MV Doulos. More than five years ago, I was a giddy student who wanted to visit that ship. An avid book collector, I was not one who would let go of the prospect of going to a floating bookstore. In fact, I really don't mind if it were a floating, flying, running, bouncing or even digging bookstore. As long as it has books of good value, expect me to be there.

Two years ago, my wish was fulfilled twice. I was able to visit the floating bookstore twice in a week and was able to buy a great volume. But being a common warm blooded sinful human, you get to ask for more.

So there I was again. I stepped on the planks of MV Doulos yet again for another trip to dreamy land. To those who have not yet been there, the bookstore is no ordinary bookstore. It contains precious volumes of inspirational material enough to have you rationalizing for a whole century. Its vast stores of books range from children's coloring and activity books to self-help books to references to inspirational and religious books including Bibles. But those who are not really into books are not forgotten, music with labels ranging from Hillsong to Sixpence non the richer, bags of different styles and colors, and souvenirs and other paraphernalia were sold as well. (Take note: I was not paid to advertise the bookstore, OK?)

So we went there. There was me, my sister and my cousin. Amidst the bustling crowd most of which were there for the heck of it and not for the books, we squeezed in and out of every bookshelf checking on some of the volumes. I, for one, checked, rejected, enjoyed, dreamed and drooled at some of the volumes that I could see there. It was some sort of a haven for the knowledge seekers and book lovers.


The ship is docked at pier 13 behind the Manila Hotel and will be there until the end of the month and if you happen to see me there, don't just holler, buy me a book for a change cause chances are my head is already in a book and I don't want to go out.