All China Nash Hash 2024

On the weekend of November 15-17th Faye and I ventured over to Hong Kong for the 2024 All China Nash Hash.

We left late on Friday and traveled to Wan Chai station via a bus from Shenzhen Bay Port.  From there it was a short walk to our hotel.  We spent a couple hours looking around for somewhere I could exchange cash.  When we did not find a place I just withdrew from an ATM.  Then Faye got some noodles and I got a sim card to last the weekend. 

On Saturday morning we went to Shooters Bar across the street to sign in for the hash events, get our hash gear and our wristbands, and to socialize a little before loading on the bus. 

We rode on the bus for about an hour and a half before arriving at the start of the trail in the northern territories. 

I was a nice trail but there was no beer stop.  There were some nice views though.  I took a timelapse video but my gopro ran out of storage space.  Also, for some reason the video is upside down.

After the hash there was a brief circle before we all loaded back on the bus and went to the bash.  The bash was fun for me up until the point I got on stage to perform.  I prepared two songs "Medium Pace" by Adam Sandler and "Finger Bang" by Drayton Tunes.  When I got on stage I was told I only had time for one song so I had to pick one on the spot.  I started at a higher pitch than I should have and the mic for my guitar barely worked.  Although some folks in the audience enjoyed the humorous song I was singing, I could barely hear their laughter over the noise, and there was one asshole who twice shouted "get off".  

After my performance I spent the rest of the evening in a dour mood.  I was upset that I dragged my guitar to HK to perform one song that wasn't well received.  I was pissed by the one heckler who I was determined to hunt down and punish.  I felt foolish for even trying to make people laugh.  The injustice of only being given three minutes to perform one song when the other acts got a lot more time was also irritating to me.  I wasn't really able to have a good time after that and just sat drinking for the rest of the evening.  The bands were mediocre at best and I did not feel like dancing.  Anyone who tried to talk to me or approach me got the cold shoulder.    

That anger carried over into the next day but eventually faded.  I was pretty upset until about noon.  While Faye slept in I went to the rusty man, which is like an iron man for alcoholics, but only stayed for the breakfast and half the walk because I had to return to the hotel to check out.  During the rusty man I was able to talk to some people who actually enjoyed and laughed at my song and they offered some words of encouragement and solidarity.  They understood why I was so pissed off and were supportive.  It was hard to stay in a bad mood while in such good company.

We checked out and stored our bags at the hotel before going to lunch and then the hangover run.  While we expected and easy street trail it turned into a slog up a mountain.

Honestly I felt like the entire trip had been a waste of money.  The 888rmb (123USD) price per person I paid covered two meals, transportation to and from the main run, the runs, hash gear, and alcohol.  It did not cover hotels and the hosting hash did not really do much to organize any special hotel deals.  The food provided was low quality and the evening entertainment was only fun if you like loud poorly performed covers of popular songs.  The local hashers were not very friendly and hospitable and came off as superficial, fake, and insincere.  I recall a long conversation with one hasher on the bus, who offered to help us organize our Maclehose Trail hike and exchange contact info with Faye, and then after Faye sent a friend request on WeChat, she never responded.  As such it was, in my opinion, a bit over priced and not worth the time or money.  The trails were good but we could have spent less doing our own hike.      

After the hangover run we skipped the circle and went to a mall in Causeway Bay so Faye could get some work clothing suitable for the upcoming Shenzhen winter. 

Once she had finished her shopping we returned to the hotel to get our bags, then bought our bus tickets to return to Shenzhen.  It took a little over an hour to get back to Shenzhen Bay Port.  We went through immigration and took a taxi home.  Then we got to bed fairly early since we had work the next day. 

Work this week has been a bit stressful.  I have two students who are failing which means extra work for me to ensure they cannot accuse me of denying them every opportunity for success.  My student assistant was absent all week because his father is having surgery so I am stuck doing all the grading myself. 

Next week is fortunately only a three day work week for me and Faye is taking off on Thursday and Friday so that we can go to Koh Samet in Thailand.  My next post will come after that trip.