Member's Overview "Hashing" in the Philippines

Hashing' is an activity of 'Hash House Harriers'.

So what is HHH (or H3)?

"A Drinking Club with a Running Problem"?

This is a phrase usually used to describe Hash Groups all over the World.

The 'running' is NOT serious, the real emphasis is on the SOCIAL side, and on having FUN.

The Origins of 'Hashing':-

The Hash House Harriers received its humble beginnings in 1938 from a British guy named Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert, in what is now Malaysia. Having a fondness for the "paper chase", he gathered together several expatriates to form a group in Kuala Lumpur that would later become a world-wide legacy. The fraternity received its name from the Selangor Club Chambers, which due to it's lackluster food was commonly referred to as the "Hash House'.

So where can one go Hashing in the Philippines?

So what is it really like to join in one of these 'Hash Runs'?

Those who have tried it before will find every Hash Group, more or less, follows some sort of Hash Hose Harriers 'guidelines', but each is uniquely different.

Here is some insight into just one of them - Cebu Hash:-

10th August 2002 saw the 5th Birthday of Cebu Hash.

Cebu Hash is certainly different from any other Hash in the World, including those in the Philippines. For a start it is multi-racial, and is a Family Hash. This means the current members of the Hash are all ages from 3 years old to 80 years old, male and female and come from Philippines, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, England, Scotland and Wales, Canada, and America (maybe others as well?).

Some think Hashing is all about Running!, Some think it is a Boozy affair like a Rugby Club. The Hash motto "We are a Drinking Club with a Running Problem' probably leads to that impression - which may well be true of many Hash Clubs in the World - but not here in Cebu. We still have FUN though.

What better way to meet some new people who have a love of the Philippine people, the country and Cebu in particular. The Hash 'Runs' are actually WALKED and/or jogged by over 50% of the participants each week. One of Cebu Hash unique features is that of the 'Hash Halts' where everyone stops and waits for the Group to all catch up. No one is left behind and the "Run" does not continue until everyone who started is ready for the next 'section'.

A Cebu Hash 'Run' is held every Saturday (at about 3pm) throughout the year.Typically it may start at the Sand Trap, Banilad. A Jeepney is usually used to take the assembled 'Hashers' to the start point of that particular 'Run' set out by the 'Hares'. This is usually in the outlying countryside of Cebu with 30-50 mins.drive time in the Jeepney (depending on destination and traffic!). One gets to see parts of Cebu one would probably never visit without this 'guidance' of Cebu Hash.

One thing that never fails to amaze me is the looks on the faces of villagers in remote 'shanties'. These must be amongst some of the poorest people in the Philippines, and they must think it a strange thing to have a group of 'Westerner' men, women, and children, accompanied by some Filipinos, running/walking through their humble village. How do they react - they just smile and laugh and enthusiastically encourage us with our 'jogging, jogging'. Some of the local kids even join in and help follow the 'trail'.Others mimic the cries of the 'On-On' calls by the Hashers.

The FUN side really starts at the 'Circle' and 'Down Downs' after the 'Run' is over. OK some Beer drinking does go on - but only if you want it to. No one is forced to drink Beer. Children certainly don't and many ladies also elect to take 'Sprite', or water.If a man has a good reason (teetotal or driving), he is allowed to take this option also. "Drink it or Wear it" is the rule however!

It really is a great way to see what Cebu and what the Philippine people have to offer. You have not really 'discovered' what Cebu is all about until you have done it. It is a whole new social scene as well.

So please do come along and join us (or any of the other Hash Groups here in the Philippines), I am sure you wont regret it.

Join in enough times and you might get a Hash 'Name' - it all adds to the FUN.

On-ON, Cheers, David Whittall

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