The Amazing Race Asia 3 - Episode 1

A Bug’s Life

The first task is for the racers to make their way to Khao San Road and look for a food stand where they have to finish two bowls of assorted fried bugs, frogs and scorpions.

The first team to finish the task were brother and sister, Henry and Bernie, followed shortly by the Beauty Queens, Pailin and Natalie then by Geoff and Tisha. After a lot of puking, all teams finished with Niroo and Kapil, the father and son tandem being the last.

Car Wash

The next task is to travel by taxi to a Caltex station to do some car washing. Or so the teams thought. First team to arrive at the station were friends Mai (actress) and Oliver and they were surprised to find a huge 2-story passenger bus to wash. Second to arrive were Geoff and Tisha.

Henry and Bernie got lost and became the 7th team to arrive when it was starting to get dark. Luckily, everybody’s still washing and it started to rain too so a huge cheer came from the teams.

Even though being late, Henry and Bernie were still the first team to finish the task. They were followed shortly by Oliver (who did most of the cleaning) and Mai then by Neena and Amit.

Read the Clues Carefully!

After washing, teams must ride a bus right there at the station to Wat Pai Rong Hua. There are only three buses available and each bus will leave once three teams are already boarded (3rd bus will leave when the last 4 are done).

Not reading the instructions carefully, Oliver and Mai hailed a cab to get to their next destination. When they realized their mistake, they went back to the Caltex station only to find out that the first bus had already left with Henry and Bernie, Neena and Amit and the Beauty Queens.

Only a few minutes behind, Bus 2 carried Geoff and Natasha, Oliver and Mai and Ida and Tania.

Buddha Bless You

It was already dark when Bus 1 arrived at the temple where there are lots of Buddha statues. Teams must search the statues for a clue which is kinda hard to do at night. They must find the clue within 20 minutes in order to board the bus that they came with otherwise, they have to board the next available bus.

Bus 2 arrived and teams from Bus 1 were still without their clues. Oliver and Mai were the first team to find a clue and they managed to board the first bus. They were followed shortly by Geoff and Tisha who also managed to get into the first bus before it left. Go Team Philippines!

Henry and Bernie finally found a clue and they were the sole passenger of Bus 2. This left Neena and Amit and the Beauty Queens to wait for the third bus and for every one to finish. It was a long wait for them.

The buses took an 8-hour trip to Chiang Mai Bus Terminal where the teams will find their next clue.

Detour: Race or Rice?

The next task is a detour where teams must choose whether to ride an off-road buggy on an 8-kilometer rough terrain track, or pound rice into paste to make two sticky rice bowls.

Not familiar with the area, Geoff and Tisha just followed Oliver and Mai and they went to board a taxi-jeep to go rice pounding. They had a nice lead from the third team, Henry and Bernie, who also did rice.

The first two teams didn’t have a problem with the task and were able to finish almost at the same time. They boarded the same taxi again to get to their next destination, the Pit Stop.

Pit Stop and the $5,000 rock-paper-scissors

At the pit stop, the teams were greeted by the beautiful Paula Taylor from Season 2. Team Thailand (Oliver and Mai) and Team Philippines arrived at the same time but they had an agreement that the first team will be decided by rocks-paper-scissors. Unfortunately, Tisha lost to Mai so the Thais went first and won $2,500 each.

Oh well, number two on the first leg is not bad. Great job Geoff and Tisha! As expected, Henry and Bernie came in third.

First Fight

After they checked into the Pit Stop, Mai was shown bickering with his teammate, Oliver. She said that she wants to quit the race. It seems that she can’t handle the stress and she’s blaming Oliver for it. Huh? Oliver’s the one doing all the dirty work. I guess Mai’s not really used to doing physical and tiring tasks.

Meanwhile…

Bus 3 arrived and they went on to their tasks. Neena and Amit’s driver got lost going to the race track and that cost them a lot of time. A.D. and Fuzzie gave up pounding rice due to blisters and switched to do the race task instead.

Fourth team to arrive at the Pit Stop were the Beauty Queens followed by Sam and Vince. However, Sam and Vince didn’t pay the taxi before sprinting to the Pit Stop. Allan asked them to go back and pay the taxi before they can check in. Hmm, how did Allan knew that they didn’t pay the fare? Anyway by that time, other teams were able to get past them.

Last Team

Last team to arrive at the Pit Stop and was eliminated were Neena and Amit. This really sucks for them since I think they are one of the strongest team this season. They were really unlucky with their taxi driver. After doing the race task, their driver got lost again heading to the Pit Stop and had to stop and ask for directions. 

Placement of each team after the first leg.

1st - Mai and Oliver ($2,500 each)
2nd - Geoff and Tisha
3rd - Henry and Bernie
4th - Natalie and Pailin
5th - Ida and Tania
6th - Isaac and William
7th - Vince and Sam
8th - A.D and Fuzzie
9th - Niroo and Kapil
10th - Neena and Amit (eliminated)

A.D. and Fuzzie

Colourful does not begin to describe long-time friends A.D. Chan and Fuzzie Sirajudin. As one can tell, normal does not describe the default buddies, as they describe themselves, who oddly define their relationship as "an old married couple". "We're like that, except we're not old, we're not married, and we're not a couple!" says Fuzzie, 34, a partner and teacher in an English language centre.

Having met in school 15 years ago, Fuzzie was nothing that A.D., 34, now a freelance writer-director for TV and T-shirt designer, saw as a potential friend. She says, "But look how far we've come! It must have been written in the stars that we should become default buddies. And I suspect this is what we will be for the rest of our lives."

So it was only natural that when auditions for The Amazing Race Asia 3 came up, choosing each other was well, a default choice. Referring to the race as an opportunity to do something different, Fuzzie says, "It's to do something outside the mundane, to do something to challenge myself and something to define the year."

"It's always been a dream to be on it someday. But all that talk finally led to some action only this year, when I felt an inexplicable impetus to just go for it," A.D. concurs.

The duo are also the first to admit that they are not perfect for the race, with the many shortcomings that they have, but adds, "We're perfect for TV."

And the first thing Fuzzie has done is to lose some weight for the race. A.D. too dusted off some dumbbells for the big event, but reasons that her secret weapon for the race is her complex character, much like a sheep in wolf's clothing. "My character is layered with contradictions and complexities, which make me idiosyncratic, inimitable, and hard to categorize," she notes gamely.

Despite their 15 years of familiarity, hard habits are hard to break and one thing Fuzzie will have to contend with is A.D.'s obsessive compulsive controlling behavior, as A.D. says that while she has a low tolerance for imperfection, she tends to "over-analyze everything to death and can be indecisive".

On her part, A.D. will have to contend with her buddy's lack of physical fitness and general slothful ways, among other things jokes Fuzzie, who adds, "There’s also my 'over-drama-ness' which makes me easily excitable, and my lack of attention to details and my poor memory."

Their goal in joining the race isn't about the fame or money, but the fun they think they would be enjoying. Says A.D., "Who wouldn't want to watch two highly unlikely people run the race? Everybody loves the underdog."

To which Fuzzie gamely adds, "Did we mention that we're unfit?"

Adrian and Collin

Young, energetic and passionate about their fitness regime, gym buddies, Collin and Adrian from Singapore are in such good shape that they could be the perfect poster boys for being fit and healthy. In fact, one can hardly tell that this team holds a secret which can prove to either be a setback or a huge advantage in The Amazing Race Asia! The jovial pair will proudly tell you, and expressively too, that Adrian has a hearing disability and relies on sign language to communicate with his teammate, Collin.

Having first met in a gym nine months ago, where Collin works as a part-time fitness and pilates instructor, these two fitness fanatics found similar interests in swimming, running and traveling and formed a quick friendship. So when they learned about the second season of their favorite race around the world, it was not hard to decide to sign up together.

While some may see Adrian's hearing disability as a hindrance in the race, the guys feel that it may reinforce their friendship. As Collin explains, "This is a good opportunity to know each other better. I like the challenges. Even though we are both active in sports, I believe that this race requires more than just physical fitness, to work as a team."

While Adrian may be younger, he will have you know that he is no pushover to be underestimated. Claiming to be the more adventurous of the duo, Adrian is always on a look out for challenges in his life to conquer.

In fact, The Amazing Race Asia is not his first adventure around the globe. Last year, he took part in a prestigious Clipper Race, an annual round the world yacht race that saw him navigating the seas for three whole months. Not only was he the first deaf Asian person to enter the race, he actually had no sea faring experience to speak of!

Just the same, this team is looking forward to having the race open up opportunities for them to get to know more of Asia. Describing their love of travel as a great passion, both Collin and Adrian profess a great hunger for knowledge about the world and people's culture and custom.

For their game strategy, both are planning to rely on teamwork, and will not start to blame the other if something does not happen as planned. Collin also promises that his team will always be using ethical ways to win. And if that doesn't work, they can rely on their uncanny ability to figure things out together. As Adrian describes it, "We think alike in so many ways, usually in unanticipated situations. It's amazing."