English
The Fabulous Queens of Saigon
…. and the queens of rain-soaked circles and cities
✅ Time: Sat, 08/06/2024
✅Hares: Cherry Ho, No Loan For You
There were just a few hardy Hashers this past Saturday for run number 1,728 in the wilds of a Saigon neighborhood (somewhere in Binh Chanh). Two queens, no wait….. make that two Fabulous Queens, set a trail amid some residential homes, neighborhood lanes, and farmer’s fields with a river running through it all.
Pop Quiz about rivers: Is Saigon a City by a River or is there a River by the City of Saigon?
This kind of wordplay exercise is my bread-and-butter so please forgive me. The phrase ‘City by a River’ can be cliché-ish so should it be used? I asked ChatGPT and he/she/it said: The phrase
"A city by a river" is generally more clever and impactful to write. This is because:
Focus on Human Interest: Cities are typically of greater interest to readers than rivers, as they are centers of human activity, history, and culture.
Common Phrase: "A city by a river" is a more common and relatable phrase. It immediately conjures images of well-known cities built along rivers (e.g., London on the
Thames, Paris on the Seine).
Narrative Potential: It suggests a story or history behind the city's placement by the river, inviting curiosity about how the river influenced the city's development.
Contextual Richness: The phrase can evoke a sense of geography, urban development, and the interplay between natural and human-made environments.
Therefore, "A city by a river" tends to resonate more and engage readers better.
So, there you go. City by a river, it is. Not sure about the “clever” part, but whatever. If you argue with ChatGPT, it installs a virus on your computer that auto-corrects every word that you accidentally misspell or type incorrectly into the words “fart head” so be careful [fart head!].
For Saigon Hash Run 1728, we had something more than clever. It was also something that ChatGPT couldn’t provide. This were two Fabulous Hares, Cherry Ho and No Loan 4 U. Their route not only had a beer stop but also a ferry ride was included for the gastronomical price of VND 2,000 per person. The ticket was covered by the Hash (Thank You!) and so was the beer (thank you even more).
It was a good run. The walk was reportedly fun as well for the four Hashers who took part. We were always near the river (the one by the city) and there was quite a lot of green. The ferry ride was fun because ferry rides always fun. Towards the end, it became a race to get to the end, a ‘B’ point, because the rain was definitely on its way. We all did make it to the end before it started raining. There was beer, banh mi, and other goodies waiting for us. However, there was one thing missing and that was a roof over our heads. Our Circle was in a vacant lot with a couple of trees and rubble. A few minutes after we arrived, a good ‘old-fashioned Saigon rainstorm kicked in and it started pouring on our uncovered heads.
The two Hares quickly went into action. They ordered some Grabs so we could go directly to the On On and hold the Circle there. Miraculously, a couple of Grab cars arrived and we all jumped in with the exception of Chemically Castrated. He got left behind in the rain because he’s a Brit and he was leaving the very next day for England. We all felt he needed a bit more rain on his head to prepare him for the English weather.
Fortunately, Chemically Castrated got a Grab quite quickly and we all convened at the German Beer Hall in Thao Dien. We had our banh mi, drank lots of beer, and kept dry. Thank you to Cherry Ho and No Loan 4 U for a great trail and a wonderful day.
On On
Tootsie Robinson