Amazing Race Asia 3 - Episode 4 (Taiwan)

On to the 4th episode of the Amazing Race Asia 3. It was originally aired on AXN in Malaysia, at 09:00pm - 10:00pm on 2nd October 2008, but I missed it ... so I watched the repeat early morning 3rd October, at 12:15am. Not a particulary exciting episode...

Wow, the team of AD and Fuzzie "Friends for 15 years" from Singapore, was the surprise of the episode. They did this "chinese conundrom" very quickly, having thought that the miniature museum of the alternate Detour was closed. They were the only team to choose the "Shape It" challenge, and with this they actually LED THE RACE !
Check out AXN's website which describes these 2 friends ... 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.”


This was the alternate Detour, "Shoot It".
Wikipedia ... In this challenge, teams drive themselves to the Miniature Museum of Taiwan and are told to use a Sony Cybershot camera to shoot a very miniature model of a yellow-race envelope hidden inside one of the dioramas. After the photo was printed, the next clue could be found behind their new photo.
What happened ...
1) Mai and Oliver (Best friends, Thailand) - Started turning up the "ante" by breaking an alliance, and didn't share the fact that they had finished this Detour, and ran off to the next pretending that they couldn't do it! This may just come back to haunt them ...
2) Sam and Vince (Hong Kong lads) - Extremely good natured, and probably the true "gems" and "nice guys" of the show. Perhaps too nice! They gave up the answer of this challenge when they completed it, by celebrating out loud, ensuring that all other teams could finish the challenge as well! DOH!


Hmmm ... Eye candy :-) Tisha! I get more frustrated with Geoff's attitude by the episode... Lets see if she puts up with him till the end of the race!


Dad, where did you park the car?
Son, how do you remove the key from the ignition? How do I engage the gear?
DISASTER!


The Roadblock ... Chao tofu, sizzling type, challenge, presented by Allan Wu. Our Ida and Tania did incredibly well to get here first, and held on to the lead, despite the dramatics of Ida's tears!


Ewww.... AD from Singapore kept burping and throwing up!
And Henry? Just stop talking, and start eating dude!


Wikipedia... At the Institute for the Blind of Taiwan, one team member had to be blindfolded and then using their hands only to feel the braille message, translate, letter by letter to the other teammate who may not see their teammate's board to get the correct phrase "Go to Shenkeng". When they correctly give this message, teams will receive their next clue. One team would find a check worth NT$612,000 ($19,137) courtesy of Standard Chartered along with their next clue and donate it to the said institute before proceeding.
What happened ... The cool HK boys, Sam and Vince, were chosen to give the donation to the Home for the Blind. How appropriate as they were the "nice guys" of the leg! Guess this was the best method for product placement, StanChart gets a mention, and a charity gets some funds!



And that was it ... WELL DONE to Ida and Tania for winning the leg, taking home the first prize, which were a pair of Nokia phones with GPS.


The other teams arrived too...

Father and son team of Niroo and Kapil are last, it was already dawn by the time they got to the Pitstop!

All because they wasted over 2 hours trying to remove the key from the car ignition, followed by a 4-hour penalty as they did not want to do the Stinky Tofu challenge. Eliminated!