I am really surprised at how “the heiress” and “the actress” are running The Amazing Race Asia 3 (TARA 3). These two - Tania Khan and Ida Nerina - are true blue city girls who lead pretty “comfortable” lives in Kuala Lumpur. They admittedly have never backpacked before, they usually travel in planes (as opposed to the 25-hour bus ride they took in Vietnam) and with suitcases (and porters) in tow.
On the race however, the two have emerged as one of the most able and least fussy teams. Yeah, there has been the occasional whine and the periodic wail but I think we all agree that eating a big bowl of “stinky tofu” in Taiwan earned actress Ida Nerina some right to wail (and weep). Generally though, these two have been pretty enthusiastic about taking on the various challenges that make up the Amazing Race and they were first at the pit stop last week. Catching live chickens and shoving them into baskets? Yeah, bring it on. Changing a tyre? Sure, why not. Hats off, city girls.
TARA 3 seems to be living up to its premise of being “the toughest race ever”. From the first episode where the teams had to eat a bowl of fried insects, bugs and frogs and then rush to a Caltex station to wash a filthy express bus armed with just a pail, a mop and some towels, to the back-breaking, tear-inducing extended race in Episode Two where teams raced almost non-stop for more than 30-hours (according to Tish and Geoff from the Philippines), TARA 3 has not been a disappointment to fans of the reality series. And while the race has been physically punishing, it has also been full of drama. Kudos to the production team for a good job with the editing once again.
The race started with 10 teams: Malaysians Tania and Ida as well as Bernie and Henry Chan; Natalie Glebova and Pailin Rungratanasunthorn from Thailand; Sam Wu and Vince Chung from Hong Kong; Oliver Faivre and Visa Sarasas (better known as Mai) also from Thailand; A.D. Chan and Fuzzie Sirajudin from Singapore; Tisha Silang and Geoff Rodriguez from the Philippines; Niroo and Kapil Asrani from India; William and Isaac Hong from South Korea; and Neena and Amit Rai from India.
After four episodes, we now have only six teams left in the race. First to be eliminated were the cousins from India, Neena and Amit. Next to go were the soft-spoken Koreans, Isaac and William; the beauty queens from Thailand, Natalie and Pailin; and the father and son from India, Niroo and Kapil.
While some of my male friends were really sad to see Natalie and Pailin leave the race, I was quite happy because I kind of like Pailin and did not think she needed to endure the insufferable Natalie (Miss Universe 2005 who turned out to be Miss-Biggest-Pain-in-the-Universe) any longer than she already had. I mean, you wonder why Natalie agreed to join the race if she felt that sleeping in an airport overnight was akin to being tortured? Did she not watch past Amazing Race episodes?
It was a tad sad seeing Niroo and Kapil leave last week, though. I don’t understand why they got so frustrated and wanted to quit just because they could not figure out how to remove the car key from the ignition. Dudes, ask someone for help already.
So who do we have left to cheer for and who do we have to jeer?
In whatever nationalistic spirit I have left, let me start with my fellow Malaysians, Bernie and Henry. They seem pretty strong and are really focused on winning. Especially Bernie ... heck, she is scary isn’t she? The siblings have been first to reach the pit stop twice so far and unless they run into some really bad luck, I see them in the final three.
Next, we have the team I really hate. Or at least the person I hate the most: Geoff of the Philippine team. I mean, what is his problem, apart from being unjustifiably arrogant and unpleasant? He is rude, sneaky, snaky and pathetically abusive, especially to his girlfriend. The dude is a loser and if he stays in the race, I hope he is put to the test every leg.
Then there is the princess and her porter from Thailand: Mai and Oliver. They don’t seem to be fighting as much as the race goes on but that’s probably because they are putting all their energy into being sneaky €” like how they found the clue last week but pretended like they did not. Hmm, perhaps they are the dark horses in the competition, eh? After all, Mai seems to be carrying her own backpack a little more.
Now, I know that as Malaysians, we have this unwritten code where we automatically diss Singaporeans, but I like the two girls from Singapore. Fuzzie and A.D. as probably one of the few “real” people on the race. They are not paticularly kiasu and not too bothered about getting the better of the other teams. Their strategy is simply to not come in last.
The Hong Kong boys, Sam and Vince, are perhaps the least controversial team on the Race. They don’t seem to have a winning strategy in place but somehow, they make it through each week without that much of a struggle. Will luck see them through to the end?
So far, the pace of the race has been relentless, with an elimination every week. Do the teams get a reprieve tomorrow or will another team be on the chopping block?
Elimination or not, it will most likely be yet another exciting episode with plenty to laugh about and even more to scream at. And, if you can still muster some nationalistic spirit, let’s cheer for the two Malaysian teams that seem to be leading the pack this far.
The Amazing Race Asia airs on AXN (Astro channel 701) every Thursday at 9pm.
TARA 3 seems to be living up to its premise of being “the toughest race ever”. From the first episode where the teams had to eat a bowl of fried insects, bugs and frogs and then rush to a Caltex station to wash a filthy express bus armed with just a pail, a mop and some towels, to the back-breaking, tear-inducing extended race in Episode Two where teams raced almost non-stop for more than 30-hours (according to Tish and Geoff from the Philippines), TARA 3 has not been a disappointment to fans of the reality series. And while the race has been physically punishing, it has also been full of drama. Kudos to the production team for a good job with the editing once again.
The race started with 10 teams: Malaysians Tania and Ida as well as Bernie and Henry Chan; Natalie Glebova and Pailin Rungratanasunthorn from Thailand; Sam Wu and Vince Chung from Hong Kong; Oliver Faivre and Visa Sarasas (better known as Mai) also from Thailand; A.D. Chan and Fuzzie Sirajudin from Singapore; Tisha Silang and Geoff Rodriguez from the Philippines; Niroo and Kapil Asrani from India; William and Isaac Hong from South Korea; and Neena and Amit Rai from India.
After four episodes, we now have only six teams left in the race. First to be eliminated were the cousins from India, Neena and Amit. Next to go were the soft-spoken Koreans, Isaac and William; the beauty queens from Thailand, Natalie and Pailin; and the father and son from India, Niroo and Kapil.
While some of my male friends were really sad to see Natalie and Pailin leave the race, I was quite happy because I kind of like Pailin and did not think she needed to endure the insufferable Natalie (Miss Universe 2005 who turned out to be Miss-Biggest-Pain-in-the-Universe) any longer than she already had. I mean, you wonder why Natalie agreed to join the race if she felt that sleeping in an airport overnight was akin to being tortured? Did she not watch past Amazing Race episodes?
It was a tad sad seeing Niroo and Kapil leave last week, though. I don’t understand why they got so frustrated and wanted to quit just because they could not figure out how to remove the car key from the ignition. Dudes, ask someone for help already.
So who do we have left to cheer for and who do we have to jeer?
In whatever nationalistic spirit I have left, let me start with my fellow Malaysians, Bernie and Henry. They seem pretty strong and are really focused on winning. Especially Bernie ... heck, she is scary isn’t she? The siblings have been first to reach the pit stop twice so far and unless they run into some really bad luck, I see them in the final three.
Next, we have the team I really hate. Or at least the person I hate the most: Geoff of the Philippine team. I mean, what is his problem, apart from being unjustifiably arrogant and unpleasant? He is rude, sneaky, snaky and pathetically abusive, especially to his girlfriend. The dude is a loser and if he stays in the race, I hope he is put to the test every leg.
Then there is the princess and her porter from Thailand: Mai and Oliver. They don’t seem to be fighting as much as the race goes on but that’s probably because they are putting all their energy into being sneaky €” like how they found the clue last week but pretended like they did not. Hmm, perhaps they are the dark horses in the competition, eh? After all, Mai seems to be carrying her own backpack a little more.
Now, I know that as Malaysians, we have this unwritten code where we automatically diss Singaporeans, but I like the two girls from Singapore. Fuzzie and A.D. as probably one of the few “real” people on the race. They are not paticularly kiasu and not too bothered about getting the better of the other teams. Their strategy is simply to not come in last.
The Hong Kong boys, Sam and Vince, are perhaps the least controversial team on the Race. They don’t seem to have a winning strategy in place but somehow, they make it through each week without that much of a struggle. Will luck see them through to the end?
So far, the pace of the race has been relentless, with an elimination every week. Do the teams get a reprieve tomorrow or will another team be on the chopping block?
Elimination or not, it will most likely be yet another exciting episode with plenty to laugh about and even more to scream at. And, if you can still muster some nationalistic spirit, let’s cheer for the two Malaysian teams that seem to be leading the pack this far.
The Amazing Race Asia airs on AXN (Astro channel 701) every Thursday at 9pm.
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