Looking at The Amazing Race 2 Asia cast, it would appear we’re in for a competitive season.
We start season 2 in Singapore. Paula and Natasha expect to be underestimated and look forward to it. Marc & Rovilson look like one of the strongest TAR teams ever. Aurelia & Sophie are ex-roommates who had a falling out… uh oh. But at least it seems they couldn’t care less whether they hate each other after this or not. Henry & Terri are bound to be the new Jonathan & Victoria. Then again, Monica & Edwin have been dating for 10 years and appear to be looking at the race as a way to validate their relationship, a surefire sign of disaster.
Teams must first proceed to a taxi with a souvenir matching the photographs included with the clue. Each of these are located within a 300m radius of the Asian Civilizations Museum. Most seasons, the first thing to do is just drive to the airport, so having people run all around the city in search of taxis is different. Sisters Vanessa & Pamela are the first ones to find their cab, which has a merlion souvenir indicative of their next destination. Sophie & Aurelia, one of two teams that live in Singapore, are second. Rovilson & Marc are third. Adrian & Colin, the second Singapore team, are fourth. Dancing mums Ann & Diane are fifth. Childhood friends Paula & Natasha are behind them. Kinariyosih & Brett are seventh. Siblings Daichi & Sawaka are in eighth. If the editing is to be believed, the last two teams are way behind. And as obnoxious as I’d anticipated. Edwin’s whining about having to carry Monica’s backpack. Then there’s Terri. That mouth is going to get on my last nerve. Both teams finally figure out where their cabs are, apparently after some teams have already started the detour.
They will take their taxis to the merlion in Faber Point. Once they get there, they’re given the task of using GPS to find the next location, the towers of Suntec City. It’s a choice between Dare or Stair. In dare, teams must take an elevator to the rooftop of tower three, then Tyrloean traverse to the rooftop of tower four. These towers are 181m high. In stair, teams must climb 45 floors to the rooftop of tower three, then return to the lobby and climb 45 floors of tower four. Dare’s a lot quicker, so long as they’re brave enough to overcome the height.
Due to the amount of work involved in climbing so many stairs, nobody even considers that option, fear of heights or not. All teams finish the dare option reasonably quickly and with minimal problems, in roughly the same order in which they arrived.
The next destination is Manila, Philippines, 2394k away and home country of both Marc & Rovilson and Terri & Henry. After the flight, they will go to the Asian Promenade Park CCP Complex. When they get to the airport, all teams are hoping to get on the first flight, which leaves at 1:25. One of the teams in the middle of the pack says they have one hour, an indication that at least the last two teams will get the shaft. As expected, the first eight teams are all on this first flight. The last two teams must board the next available flight, whenever that is (they don’t give us a time, but we know it’s enough for it to be hopeless).
When they arrive in Manila, it’s in the middle of a storm, not the best weather in which to run a race. Their first destination in Manila is a balut seller in Plaza Miranda. There they must eat 8 balut, a fertilized duck egg with a nearly developed embryo inside, which Denise failed to eat during the gross eating challenge in Survivor: China Episode 6. Apparently, it’s also considered an aphrodisiac. Only flaw in this challenge design is it looks like one person could eat all 8 if needed.
Despite how disgusting this may sound to some, Vanessa & Pamela made quick work of it, with alpha males Marc & Rovilson still on their tails. For that matter, the first three or four teams seem to have a pretty easy go of it. It’s not until Ann & Diane that we get some throwing up into a bucket, but even they finish fairly quickly. Edwin & Monica show up as Terri & Henry are finishing their balut, making the only real question whether it’s a nonelimination like the first leg was last year or not.
The first pitstop is Fort Santiago. The first two teams find it no problem, but Adrian & Collin fall victim to a cab driver who doesn’t know where he’s going and takes them back the airport.
First: Pamela & Vanessa (win Nokia N95’s and N73’s)
Second: Rovilson & Marc
Third: Ann & Diane
Fourth: Brett & Kinaryosih
Fifth: Aurelia & Sophie
Sixth: Paula & Natasha
Seventh: Adrian & Collin
Eighth: Daichi & Sawaka
Ninth: Terri & Henry
Tenth: Edwin & Monica (non-eliminated)
As with season 1, the first leg is a non-elimination. If they do not arrive first next time, they will incur a 30 minute time penalty. While I like this and think it should be applied to the US version as well, I was really hoping to get rid of one of these two teams, as they’re both horrible. I’d rather get rid of Terri, though, as she talks (loudly) just for the sake of hearing herself talk (loudly).
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race Asia 2 episode 2, and don’t forget our live blogs of The Amazing Race 12.
Hi! It was great tuning into the most favourite reality show of all time! Having already gained an indepth infor on the racers from the introductory episode, it was easy to pick out the names and nationality of the participating teams (although I was a little miffed by the lack of any teams from India)
The filipino hunks are my favourite although the fiesty Pam and Van left them eating their dust at the pitstop. The initial episodes are always a frenzied rush and you can barely keep track of who’s doing what. The gym buddies (Adrein & Collin) from Singapore gave a creditable performance but for the imept cab dirver sqandering their hard won lead time depriving them of thier tops 3 finish.
The dancing moms remind me of the bowling moms from TAR5. Hopw they go as far.
Somebody shut terri’s mount my sumpathies for Henry, it can’t be easy being married to the awful termagant (I did see poor henty gnashing his teeth once when he obviously forgot that he was on camera. No wonder his smiles seem strained.
The Japanese team. Daichi & Sawaka deserve the award for the most well behaved team. There is something about this brother Sister duo that just appeals to you. Daichi is cute!
Rovilson just cracks me up with his asides, love his hairstyle. Marc is the darling of this season. I am rooting for this team!
Yeah, it definitely was a nice change of pace to get a full episode of introductions for this season. I was almost not entirely confused by who was who.
Although it’s obvious the guys are the team to beat, I was quite impressed with the sisters leaving them in their dust. Normally the first leg isn’t particularly reliable, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can keep it up.
Unfortunately, I fear we’ll be stuck with Terri until at least three other teams have been eliminated.
>While I like this and think it should be applied to the US version as well
the US version has this rule too im sure.
Yes, the US version has a NEL rule. I meant they should have it so that the first leg is a nonelimination. From a production standpoint, though, it makes more sense to do it the way the US version does it, waiting until there are about 6 or 7 teams left.