Predictions for Episode 9

I think its time for a double leg... otherwise, its the weakest ones out 1. A double leg – its about time for one.

2. Zabrina and Joe Jer – getting weaker week by week 3. M&Ms – they splurge too much to focus on the race, and they cant count.

No More Crying!

Finally, Sahran and Howard are gone! There are no more non-elimination legs to save you guys… sorry! Its about time. Everyone who follows the show knows that they are one level behind the others – in other words, they are the weakest! And they were pretty lucky to have survived this long, and win one leg of the race (and it’s a prize winning leg too!). One has extreme fear of heights (its funny watching him cry his heart out because of it, not once, but TWICE), the other is claustrophobic and has weak skin. Hey, who gets blisters trying to pry open a coconut with a hammer?! And both of them cant drive stick. I mean, I think they really had guts to even try applying for the show in the first place, knowing they had to go through their worse fears.

Which one is the 'weaker' link? I'm undecided...

Now, one thinks they would have learnt their lesson getting lost in a taxi in Bangkok. But nooo… they had to challenge themselves trying to get from Bangkok to Krabi by bus. There’s of course, the direct bus, but that would be just too simple. 3 teams just had to try bus-hopping throughout the journey. Lucky for them (or maybe it was rigged), they all had to wait till opening hours, which gave these teams time to catch up.

Catch the right bus, or risk getting lost in Thailand... again.

M&Ms. They need to learn how to count! Firstly, the number of hours from 3am to 7pm is 16 hours. Yes, that’s how long they travelled on the 5 buses from Bangkok to Krabi. And then, why did they need to splurge all their money to buy backpacks??! They should have thought it out way way before the start of the race and get LIGHT, SMALL backpacks. Did anyone ever notice an episode where the M&Ms hadn’t got nice food or a massage?? Shameful of them – resorting to begging to support their lifestyle! And just another note here, the show should have gotten all the teams backpacks! Cheapskates!

At least they are smart enough to go after the Fast Forward. I'm dissapointed that no one else rushed for it.

The coconut task. If I take 5 minutes to just break one coconut, and still have 50 ahead of me, I’d give in quickly! It wont take 5 minutes to swim to a marker to check for the clue. This is where teams should use the stuff between their ears. Discard the coconut and swim! Don’t wait till you have a blistering hand to switch tasks. After all, 2 teams already did that and walked away with the clue.

Predictions for Episode 8

Well… lets see. The 3 weakest teams left are Sahran and Howard, Mardy and Marsio (M&Ms), and Zabrina and Joe Jer. At least the first 2 teams had won a leg before, its only the last all-girl team that remains without winning any leg. Plus, they did come in Last last week. Sounds too easy isn’t it? I’d say the one out is probably someone we’d not expect. So, for my predictions this week. I’d like to put in the very “Asian” couples, 1. Andy and Laura – it’s the end of the road for their evil ways! 2. Beauty and the Beef... and... 3. Zabrina and Joe Jer – just in case it DOES get too predictable. Happy new year!

Surprise! Another Non-Elimination Leg!

Wow… unpredictable! Its yet again, another non-elimination round. And the lucky fellas this time is Zabrina and Joe Jer. They have never won any leg yet, and are now last place. They’re probably blaming it on the taxi drivers, who seems to promise to go where they wanted, only to bring them round and round the merry go round. But then again, all other teams had pretty much the same kind of taxi drivers. Better think twice before hopping on a cab in Bangkok.

How long will their luck last?

Well, Caltex seem to have double air time. They must have paid more for it. Though I thought that they will definitely stop at Bintan Lagoon in Singapore. Unfortunately, Singapore only had to offer a very very dirty car wash. Maybe next time then. Its definitely not the last time we’ll be seeing Singapore.

Washing car in Caltex in Singapore. Not even 5 minutes in Singapore and they have to move on.

Congratulations this time to the Thais. Winning on “home ground” is Andy and Laura. Though “evil”, but then again, where’s the entertainment if everyone is a goody two shoes. I wonder if your country is rooting for you??

Andy and Laura, the only "Asian" couple to kiss on air.

Predictions for Episode 7

Joe Jer and Zabrina might be the only team that has not won any leg of the race yet. However they have consistently finished at 3rd place – or so. That is probably good enough to bring them to top 3, if they do not face any major disaster. Will this team bring it far, or will the curse of the all-girls team strike in the Asia Edition of the race? I think they have at least a few more good episodes to go.

Something to laugh about? They're the last remaining team that did not win any leg, and the last all-girl team.

Nevertheless, since my confidence level is up about my predictions, thanks to last week’s episode, I’ll try to do another spot on one. Here’s my predictions: 1. Howard and Sahran – its about time they get eliminated. They cant do much except give funny expressions on tv, and crying.

Don't jump for joy... yet.

2. Andy and Laura – one can be wishful for evil ones to be eliminated soon.

At least they aren't that boring now.

3. Another non-elimination round or a super round (2 episodes before arriving at pit stop) - you never know.

Ah. Episode 6. Shows how much more sponsors are involved. This time its Caltex. They not only need to refill using Caltex petrol, but to also claim a clue from them. This guarantees that Caltex has like 6 minutes of airtime. That’s at least 12 times more from a normal commercial. Now lets wait for a Bintan Resort pit stop in Singapore and a task involving Nokia phone – probably to call someone, or to receive MMS of the next clue.

Is this enough Caltex airtime?

Like I said earlier, it pays to follow the rules. Tsk tsk. Andy, it was pretty entertaining to watch how you try to handle a policeman the “Asian” way. Too bad we didn’t have to watch you work/beg your way to pay for that fine, cos that would have been real entertaining. But unfortunately the penalty works for the beginning of the next leg. Looking at how almost every episode has some bunching before boarding an airplane/bus/train, that penalty would mean almost nothing. We’ll have to wait till next episode to find out. If the penalty stayed before they were allowed to check into the pit stop, then they would have been out (and my prediction spot on). But alas!

Speed limit says 100km/h not 146km/h

Joe Jer and Zabrina. They are always quite lucky to get ahead in the race. Somehow or rather they manage to catch up and be almost in the lead, thus arriving at 3rd place, once again. They’re the only team who didn’t win any leg of the race, though technically, they did arrive first once. They gotta get their game up if they wanna stay in. And I’d bet Joe Jer must be sulking at home now since they’ve announced her weight on air this episode. Heck, she must be really pissed since she was absent from the Malaysian teams’ advertisement (Andrew, Syeon and Zabrina were in the ad). Who does not yet know she's 61kg?

When we think of New Zealand, what will one of the tasks be? Well, duh… of course it will be bungee jumping! It wont be NZ without one. Its just too cliché to have bungee jumping as one of the tasks. All teams wanting to get on TAR or TARA should prepare to bungee jump at least once. The only surprise comes if they’re in NZ and there are NO bungee jumps. Bungee jumping in New Zealand. How could they NOT do it?

So, anyway, congrats to Beef and Beauty. Luckily beef is wearing more clothes these days, and make him seem more tolerable, though beauty is talking way way more than she did before. Its almost on the verge of being irritating. And to the Singaporean girls, you know your own mistake – just not pushing yourselves enough to win the race. No more determination. The face of defeat. They knew they were out.

Predictions for Episode 6

Things have almost gone right for my prediction last week. However, the producers just broke rule number 1 for a reality tv show. Hmm... Let’s now assume all rules are meant to be broken (except for the hitch-hike rule). So, that means anything they air on the next episode preview, we can basically chuck it aside. Now it all depends on whether Andy and Laura have become lucky after all. Remember they arrived at 7th place in the first 4 episode. Heaven knows why they call it “lucky number 7.” Like they’ve confessed, they can only be “lucky number 7” until 7 teams remain. Guess what, 7 teams remain! Is this gonna be a lucky week for them? Have their luck changed? It seems so. After they turned “evil”, their luck seems to have changed. And has it been changed with the Singaporean girls, Sharon and Melody (funny, only Singaporeans like that name eh?). Not to mention, the way things are going, I wont be surprised if it turned out to be yet another non-elimination leg.

So, here’s my prediction for this week: 1. OUT – Laura and Andy

(its all karma, you cant escape your luck and be evil at the same time) 2. Sharon and Melody

(for they seem to have switched luck with team Blah).

3. Non-elimination leg.

(at the rate this show is going, will it still be a surprise?)

Episode 5 - Play By the Rules!

Did anyone notice how much advertisement goes into this show? Look at the major sponsors, Air Asia and Sony. Of course for the shorter trips, the teams need to take Air Asia flights. And I’m sure some of you may have noticed the Air Asia owner shaking hands with the teams on their first flight. Lets not even begin with the Sony. Some of the tasks involving using Sony stuff are irrelevant. Like for this episode, why need to take the pictures of the jump, when its not going to be judged on the pictures? They should make Howard jump again because Sahran took bad pictures. That’ll make the tasks more interesting. And did anyone notice how all the teams came down from the flight wearing the New Zealand's silver fern cap? I just wonder how much money they’ve made from the show. And all the winner gets is US$100,000. Hmphs.

Gotta promote New Zealand

When the clue says “search for girl on swing”, please don’t go running around the entire island looking for all the swings possible. This time Andrew and Syeon used their brains! They scan the area of the jetty first before deciding where to go. For the others, shame on you for rushing out like that! What’s worse is that some of you just don’t know when to stop – even up to the point of hitch-hiking or taking a taxi to find the one swing that they haven’t looked yet. And this just leads to some teams lagging way behind, playing catch-up. Now now, isn't hitch-hiking dangerous?

How many times in the show did they mention “only public transportations are allowed, no riding in personal vehicles at all times!”?? Can anyone name me one episode where this was not mentioned?? C’mon guys, listen to the rules. You need to play by the rules. And although you can run, you have all the brawns others don’t have, doesn’t mean you’re invincible. And c’mon, don’t go complaining that you didn’t know the rules! That’s just lame. Either the rules didn’t stick on your Teflon brain, or you just play ignorance. All I can say is - you deserve it! Good bye!

Now, don’t go breaking the law!

Sharon and Melody, a tad bit lucky this time. Have your luck just been switched with Laura and Andy?? Maybe the fall did the trick. So, next episode, a lot of your fans may be wishing for one of you to dislocate their knee. Or at least turn evil. Anyway, congrats to team Blah. You may be slightly more interesting to watch after all… at least more than your audition video.

Did wearing the sponsor caps helped them win?

Episode 5 Predictions

Firstly, you must watch the episode preview:

Reviewing the preview, we know that the indian models, Sahil and Prashant, has gone into "deep shit" and did something which they were not allowed to do (they were EMPHASIZING on this new rule many many times in previous episodes, in case you didn't notice). In reality tv rules, teams that seem likely to lose in previews are always safe. So that means this team is safe for this week.

Howard and Sahran ("best friends") were last previous episode. But it seems like someone 'up there' likes these 2. However, it is extremely unlikely that they'd have another non-elimination round this time. But these 2 seem pretty lucky enough. So, unless they face yet another major fobia, they will be safe. That means Sahran should not be the one to take the jump (see preview).

Andy and Laura (boring but evil couple) should not be last too. They always seem to finish 7th, so, if thats the case they're safe for another episode.

Any of the favourites can be in trouble if they come in last. The producers have wasted their non-elim round last episode on the "best friends". So, all teams are vulnerable.

Ok, cut the crap. Lets get to the point. Here's my prediction for this week: Beauty and the Beef. (ok, so I got tired of seeing his tank top - maybe if he covers up, he's be lucky).Eeek!

Yet Another Non-Elimination!

Episode 4. Yet again another disappointing finish. How many times are we gonna have a non-elim round? Right now, it’s one every other episode. At this rate, we’ll take at least another 14 weeks to end the show. At my calculation, the finale will be 8th March 2007. All those with short attention span or will be missing shows going overseas, you might as well stop watching now.

Congrats to Andrew and Syeon for being 'Team number... ONE'. However, they only get bragging rights, nothing else.

I think it’s the editor’s fault that this episode is just too much. Everyone running around, but don’t know who’s leading. After buying plane ticket, next thing you know, they landed. Didn’t even notice anyone fell down. Editors should slow it down; focus some on the drama too! And by the way, it’s cruel for the models to push girls down and say that it’s funny.

No, its not OK to push little girls down.

Beef and beauty made a silly mistake of taking the conventional ferry rather than the express one. And it cost them first place. Only thing, before that, they were laughing at the other teams when their express ferry over took the other teams in the normal ferry on the way to see dangerous animals. Its all karma. But too bad, the winners did not get another Sony Handycam or any other prize.

Riding the JetCat could have given Beef and Beauty bragging rights.

Oh Laura and Andy. Not only are they the most boring (view the audition video) and unlucky team in the race, but they are turning evil. See them hiding all the maps? Too bad their evil plan did not work out. The others still manage to get where they are suppose to be (only the taxi drivers got it wrong). See, its all karma. For being evil, Laura had to fall, and apparently dislocated her knee cap. Now they can’t run, so they can take all the time they want to look at maps.

Are they truly the unluckiest couple alive? Arriving at number 7, again?!

Again, the “best friends” team are afraid of something. Surprise surprise! They’re not afraid of dolphins, they’re just afraid of enclosed spaces – i.e. claustrophobic. It caused them a 4 hour penalty – on top of being the last team to arrive on the pit stop. Unfortunately for us, Allan said “I am pleased to tell you, that this is one of the several predetermined non-elimination leg of the race” (and I think he took like one minute to say that line). Come on, its time to kick teams off! Let the race get more intense!

The producers love watching Howard and Sahran suffer all sorts of phobias.

I’m beginning to suspect that the people behind the scenes (producers, editors, script writers, etc) are all "good friends", like Howard and Sahran. Not only did these two undeservingly get the non-elimination round, but they are the only team who won any prize for reaching the pit stop first. Then again, their expressions on camera are excruciatingly funny.

Of Quitters and Diggers

Episode 3 - Bali, Indonesia.

In an almost impossible task, you need to ask yourself: “at which point will quitting while you’re ahead actually give you an advantage?” or “how long do I continue trying before I actually lose out?”

Salute goes to the Malaysian girls, Zabrina and Joe Jer. Last to quit, at which they arrived at the next destination during closing hours and had to wait for other teams to catch up and even out. They must be kicking themselves about quitting by then. And then, after a long hard race, they arrived at the destination FIRST, but losing out to the “best friends” due to the 4 hour penalty. They must be kicking themselves again (even harder) for quitting this time! I’ll bet my money that they’ll not quit any other tasks again!

First team to arrive, but did not hear "You are team number... (long awkward pause) ... ONE"

One also has to wonder why Sharon an dMelody, the Singaporeans, exclaim “Oh Beaaachh!!” when they saw the beach on the way to the pit stop. Wouldn’t you see enough of the ocean when living on a tiny tiny island? Ok, so maybe the beaches there are blaahh. But won’t you be afraid of even looking at a pile of sand after digging on a beach for half a day? I love the Beeaacchhh!

Goodbye finally to Aubrey and Jaq, the Phillipino models (I’m sure all the guys out there knows what kind of models they really are). I guess they’ve bribed enough taxi drivers with their kisses. What makes them think that being sexy will take them far? Oh yeah, they are already famous for being sexy and bimbo-ish. Hey, I also just realised that now all the Phillipinos teams are gone! Wonder who’ll they support next week? Aspiring blondes, Aubrey and Jaq

Congrats goes to the "best friends" from Sri Lanka, Sahran and Howard. Though I'm sure many people out there are wondering if they're more than that. If you're not, then look at this: This is how "best friends" hug

And I can't resist putting in this funny shot of them reacting to Allan's (boring) exclamation that they've just won this leg of the race. "You are team number... (wait for it) ... ONE!"

Episode 2 - Jakarta

Episode 2. Teams fly to Jakarta, Indonesia (by Air Asia, of course!)

Obviously the M&Ms got the home ground advantage. And good for them, they came in 2nd. And that’s because one other team beat them with a FastForward – the Indian models. All braun, but yet to prove they have brains. If they were indeed brainy, why would they proceed to get to the FastForward even though another went ahead first? Anyway, they were extremely lucky for the other team got lost. Ignorance is bliss eh? And what about the damn easy tasks? Dancing? If they were picky enough, then ALL participants would fail or take ages to complete the dancing task. But the way it was, even a monkey holding 2 plates would have passed the task and handed the next clue (and I’m surprised that not one team dropped a plate!). At least the other Bakso task was a little bit better.

Any monkey could do this

The snake task was just as mild. Only, as usual, snakes would cause some Asians so spasm in fear. But then again, those are non-poisonous snakes. And they’ve probably been overfed at the zoo and are too lazy to move anyway. You could step on them to get the clue, and still come out safe. Now compare this task to the US version – where the clue was hanging in a corner of a crocodile pit! Now that’s what we call a ROAD BLOCK!

Becareful, crocs rule!

All those mild and easy tasks put all teams ahead. Therefore, the team who got lost couldn’t catch up. Unlike the real TAR, where if teams got really lost, they’d arrive at the pit stop late at night (poor Phil have to stay up and wait for them). Unfortunately, the first team to be eliminated for the race are the fittest couple and the favourites to win the race. (I’d much rather see Beef and beauty go. Or at least feel a bit more satisfied if they were out first before this team)

Ernie and Jeena: Don't tell me Beef was here first?!

Online Amazing Race

Oh... what a good marketing ploy! Offer a little bit of cash (US$ 2,000) and a "chance" to win some of the sponsor prizes, and you could get a few thousand people watching the show. At least the pilot episode (and hopefully, they'll already get hooked by then!).

The race is divided into 2 parts. And teams consists of 2 people. All need to sign up as AXN's member (another good ploy to get members). For the first part, there are roughly 12 clues. You need to find the clues in sponsor websites (another good ploy to expose the sponsors to more people), answer a few questions on TAR. At first, it seems that the 20 fastest teams will be qualified for the race. That said, a few teams created bogus teams just to see what lies ahead and practice racing. Well, for my team, we just browsed the forum (where stupid people post up the answers) and try finding the clues before we actually start the race. Well, all that effort was put to waste... since ALL teams who finished this part qualified for the final part. Cheh...

About 2000 teams qualified for the final part. And all are expected to sign on AT THE SAME TIME. Guess what? It was jammed up! I pity those that have dial-up connections. Anyway, we thought that it was gonna be like part 1. So, we went to a cybercafe, and sit side-by-side to make it easier. It was also required to answer questions based on the pilot episode (see, contestants MUST watch the show). Dissapointingly, only one easy question was asked, and then it brough you into a new window to play a game. The game was similar to "snake and ladders". All you need to do is to press a button to spin the dice. "Ladders" were replaced by FastForwards, and "snakes" was replaced by Yields (where if you land on them, you cannot roll the dice for a few seconds). First person to reach "Pit Stop" wins.

So, obviously.. only one VERY VERY LUCKY team will win. Although we were leading when we reached the game window... after finishing the game, we took a long long time to "update" our status (no doubt due to the high traffic flow). So, we ended up getting 142nd.

Congrats, Jsquare... you lucky fellas! (Tell me if you ACTUALLY got the cash prize!)

By the way, there were suppose to be some consolation prizes from the sponsors (Sony, Air Asia, Caltex). But was never specified what the prizes were, how many prizes there were, nor who got those prizes! (Whoever got any of those prizes, I'd like to know who you are)

Oh, and did I mention what a brilliant marketing gimmick this Online Race was?

Amazing Race Asia - Pilot (Episode 1) - Kuala Lumpur

Flag off!

From Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur

10 teams

US$ 100,000 prize

Here we go. Episode 1. Local teams get the home ground advantage. Not only do they know the language and destinations, but they also get the advantages of knowing how to haggle with taxi drivers, driving on the “correct-side” of the road, and performing tasks which they are familiar with. On the other hand, it will be a big embarrassment if they don’t do well or worse, get lost! From the first task itself, it is obvious that we Asians are being treated like little kids. Tasks are much much milder than the US counterpart. Take the abseiling for example. Seems like child’s play. However, there could still be contestants who are soooo afraid of heights, like Sahran. I just can’t believe he didn’t wet his pants. Why’d he even applied for the race if he has this fear? In fact, why was his team cast? I suppose it could be because his “best friend” is white. Makes good tv if there’s white folks in it.

Sahran crying like a baby on his first task

This brings me to another white couple, who supposedly represent Thailand. I wonder if the Thais are supporting them? They are SUPER boring by the way. And by reading this, I’m sure you’ll have a hard time picturing their faces, which is why I’ll display their pic here:

Laura and Andy. "Thais".

I still doubt you'll remember them anyway, unless you look out for them in the next episodes. They probably got picked because they're the only team who dare kiss infront of the camera. And here’s their audition video (If anyone manages to sit through the entire 3 minutes with FULL attention, please say “aye” in the comments. I’d like to meet these people and see if the classified sections can give them more excitement): So, anyway, this episode is such disappointment. It’s a non-elimination race. Why would they do that so darn early in the race?! Come on, who’d miss this couple if they were out? In fact, who’d wanna see this beauty and the beast? Actually, I really mean "beef"… his muscles look all beefed up, plus he always wear that superduper ugly tank top. Yikes.

Beauty and the Beef. "Honkies".

The Amazing Race Reaches Asia!

Finally, a race around the world (or half of it) just for us! The Amazing Race has reached our shores.

Hosted by Allan Wu from Singapore.

Watch AXN every Thursday 9pm (Malaysia).