Logos Hope Floating Book Fair at Penang

Logos Hope floating book fair is currently at Swettenham Pier, Penang until 25 September 2011. We're so excited to go and had much fun. In fact, a few people told us it is very crowded and hot inside due to the crowd, the area open to public for book fair is rather small, nothing to do there etc.

We actually spent almost the whole afternoon there. Not much of a queue, as it had been opened 3 weeks unlike the first few weeks I guess, but still a good crowd. We didn't have to queue much to register nor to buy our tickets. Pleasantly surprised that children 12 and under enter for free, but need to be accompanied by an adult :)

今天好晒啊! Walking to the Pier

Nearer, finished register easily as not much crowd

Before entrance

Now we love reading, so this is like paradise for us. Prices are stated in units, 100 unit = RM8. There are display of conversion from units to RM on a lot of shelves. When we first stepped inside, an old lady commented this is Mat Salleh ship so they sell Mat Salleh books, hahaha... international book fair, what'd ya expect auntie... A lot of people came to see see look look. Volunteers announce they are short of change so they appreciate small change, and they appeal many times to shoppers to put the books back to the racks after taking them out for browsing. A bit pai seh for Mat Salleh to announce this to us, you know how our people are with queues and respect for things.

Adults books consist of a whole shelf dedicated to Narnia, recipe/cookbooks, books on parenting, health, craft, Christianity, college books etc. Prices range from RM8 to RM80 each.

We loved the children's books, I have not seen some of the books at our local bookstores (some ok, not all). 爸爸 comment some of the books are older version, not an issue for me as long as the children aren't choosy over such non-detail. Honestly even if the books are latest editions, those who don't read won't buy either way. No chance to go through the adults stuff as it's quite crowded and we need to keep close eyes on the children. No Smurfs (bah, enough of Smurfs already :P ) but some Enid Blyton, Sesame Street, Cars (not Cars2), Toy Story, Disney Princess, Little Einstiens, the more popular fairy tales, Ladybird selection, animals and machine/truck stuff, children books about ballet. The thicker and more expensive children books range from 400 to 500 units, there are many books between 100 and 300 units. Field day for 弟弟, but 姐姐 initially was not happy as she knows the Disney Princess books are expensive and she couldn't find reasonable priced girl books with stickers like 弟弟. Later she manage to find things she like and became sunny again. Oh and many stickers and magnets of various cartoon characters, I saw prices are between 100 to 200 units. 爸爸 asked that they take credit card (Visa and Master) as we were already having a haul in our basket. However while queuing to pay, we saw they have a notice saying prices are subject to exchange rate if using credit card. No wonder most people are paying in cash! We have to dig and dig for cash. For purchase above RM50, you will get a choice of free mug or free dictionary. There's also lots of CDs but we didn't stop to look.


The storyboard gallery, kids don't have patience to wait for the explanation given by the volunteer

See whose hand sneaking off some popcorns?

 

Bobbie tried to sneak up to take photo too (Bobbie is the dog in green color)

Near the cafe, smell of delicious snack welcomed us. There's a kid's area so the children went to play by themselves while our fave guy queue for snacks. Somehow the children who were shy and often lose out in queues manage to find a spot to play in. Our guy got us coffee RM5, cookie RM4, RM5, popcorn (salted and buttered) RM3. All are good! We went back for ice-cream (have to wait for the next batch as they run out and the volunteer in charge said need some time for the machine to cool), more coffee and cookies! There's a chocolate brownie which looked good at RM6. Didn't manage to try as run out of cash :P I think their cafe choices vary sometimes as other folks who visited got different stuff to eat. Even though Logos Hope is a book fair and not cafe, I'd love to go back for more coffee, cookies and cake. Like the auntie would say, Mat Salleh taste :) There's even volunteers who make animal balloon for the kids for free. See the crowd of children queueing for balloons. Both our kids already taken their share of balloon earlier while waiting for sundae cone.

By the way, there is no line access inside the ship. While we were walking around, seems like a lot of people who came in bigger groups lost each other in the crowd and no phone access to keep in touch. So watch your children and group closely when inside.

At the display area:

Having fun at the simulator

Whose arms stretched out to play when it's not his turn

 

They loved this bell but it is not functional



Smiling happily after an afternoon of fun

Our haul

Overall, fun and nice, luckily we went after school holidays and avoided the massive crowd and long queue. Loved the children books and the snacks. Guess it's only stuffy and hot with high "traffic" like school holiday weekends. We parked at nearby car park and walked about 5 mins to the Pier. Good thing we didn't take umbrella as do not know where to stuff it as quite crowded and not much room to move around (unless the foldable type of course, it's rather hot walking there). Ladies' toilet is considered clean, and the flush system is like on aeroplane.

Logos Hope's next stop is Port Klang by end Sept, they will also go to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, Singapore and Philippines (see their website). Those who had been to Warehouse Sale by MPH or the recent Book Fest might have already loaded up on their quota of books. Hopefully everyone will find something interesting at Logos Hope floating book fair and also not miss this opportunity to visit.