The Amazing Race Asia 2 Episode 2 was fairly predictable due to the leg’s design. Both of the bottom two teams, either of whom it would have been great to see go home in the previous episode, struggled to not be eliminated. In the end, dating/bickering couple Edwin & Monica were the first team to be eliminated from the race. Rovilson & Marc continue to be a force to be reckoned with, which was pretty obvious pre-season.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.
First: Rovilson & Marc (2:42am)
Second: Paula & Natasha (2:47am)
Third: Diane & Ann (2:49am)
Fourth: Pamela & Vanessa (2:51am)
Fifth: Adrian & Collin (2:52am)
Sixth: Brett & Kinaryosih (3:21am)
Seventh: Aurelia & Sophie (3:50am)
Eighth: Daichi & Sawaka
Ninth: Terri & Henry (4:29am)
Next stop is Central Pier in Hong Kong, which is 1117km away and the home town of Sophie & Aurelia. All teams are bunched up on the same flight.
Terri says she’s getting angrier and angrier but that this is unusual because she’s normally not like this and just keeps it to herself. At least she didn’t blame it on the editing.
When they arrive in Hong Kong, the next stop is the Standard Chartered Bank in Causeway Bay, where they will count the local currency. This type of task has the potential to be particularly irritating. A quick glance at the clock tells us why. Two hours go by without anybody having finished. Daichi & Sawaka are finally the first to complete the task. Rovilson & Marc are second. Vanessa & Pamela are third. Ann & Diane are fourth. Terri & Henry are fifth, with Paula & Natasha right behind. Brett & Kinaryosih are next. Sophie & Aurelia finish eighth. Adrian & Collin are in last.
Apparently, the only reason they went to Hong Kong was to go to a bank. The next destination is Auckland, New Zealand, 9139km away. All teams are once again on the same flight. Once there, they will go to Howick Historical Village. When they arrive at the village, they’ll search through the buildings for various items and take pictures of them. There seems to be quite a bit of teams helping other teams on this task.
Marc & Rovilson tell us real men ask for directions. They stop to ask and find some people willing to take them all the way there.
The road block is a bungy jump off the AJ Hackett Auckland Harbour Bridge, 40 meters above the water. A problem for some people, but Rovilson & Marc both want to do it badly. Natasha’s thrilled as well. Most teams assume “take the plunge” means going underwater. They assume wrong. Terri, who quickly volunteered, gets particularly upset at Henry because she chose to do it. All teams, with the exception of last place Brett & Kinaryosih, appear to arrive within a close time frame of each other, though it is first come, first served.
Road block: Rovilson, Diane, Natasha, Sophie, Terri, Collin, Vanessa, Sawaka, Brett
The detour is a choice between wall and waka. In wall, teams must drive to Birkenhead Leisure Centre and scale a rock wall. In waka, teams must drive to Lake Pupuke and select an outrigger canoe, traditionally known as the waka ama, and paddle the course and collect flags.
Wall: Rovilson & Marc, Collin & Adrian
Waka: Paula & Natasha (switched from wall), Terri & Henry (switched from wall), Vanessa & Pamela (switched from wall), Ann & Diane (switched before going to wall), Daichi & Sawaka, Sophie & Aurelia (switched from wall), Brett & Kinaryosih (switched from wall)
Obviously, Rovilson & Marc blow right through the task. Natasha starts crying and is afraid of short heights, whatever that is, and they eventually head to the waka task instead. Terri tries the wall task for about two seconds, so they switch to the other task, where the boat capsizes. They’re not alone, though, as other teams have problems with their boats flipping over as well. Sophie stubbornly insists on Aurelia sticking with the wall task. She considers calling her a wimp to be motivational. Later, she says it’s just really hard not to be mean to Aurelia.
The next stop is Ascension Vineyard in Matakana, an hour outside of Auckland. Teams will receive their next clue after going through the former Kingseat psychiatric hospital, reputed to be more terrifying than The Exorcist. It’s now more commonly known as Spookers Haunted House.
Pamela & Vanessa are driving along, just heading straight and minding their own business, and out of nowhere, they’re sideswiped by someone apparently not paying attention to them. The other driver insists they stick around and wait for the police to arrive, which takes up about half an hour.
Sophie & Aurelia, arguing the whole time, go to the wrong Matakana. There are apparently two within a similar distance from Auckland. Considering the round trip time, this could potentially be up to a couple hours wasted. Sophie tells Aurelia she would rather quit the race than to trust her ever again. At this rate, I’m hoping they’ve lost enough time for Brett & Kinar to catch up because this is ridiculous.
Just outside the haunted house is the Forest of Fear, which for some reason is also the pitstop for this leg of the race.
First: Rovilson & Marc (win free gas for a year from Caltex)
Second: Adrian & Collin
Third: Ann & Diane
Fourth: Paula & Natasha
Fifth: Terri & Henry
Sixth: Daichi & Sawaka
Seventh: Vanessa & Pamela
Eighth: Sophie & Aurelia
Ninth: Brett & Kinaryosih (eliminated)
Brett & Kinaryosih, who performed reasonably well if not spectacularly thus far, just completely hit a brick wall this time. The initial seemingly easy task of finding a marked car proved problematic. They did hopelessly poorly on the historic village task. She was unable to complete the wall task, which was the case with all the women. Then to add to the problems, they hit an hours of operations problem with the boats and had to just skip the detour altogether. They’re pulled into the pitstop by the production crew. They wanted to do three things in the race: always have fun, be good to each other, and never give up. Hard to see such a likeable team leave considering some of the others who remain.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race Asia 2 episode 4, and don’t forget our live blogs of The Amazing Race 12.
Actually Hong Kong is the hometown of Sophie and Aurelia … (:
Thanks. Looks like the producers goofed on that. According to the original information and the official site, they’re from Hong Kong, but in the racers revealed episode, it said they were from Singapore.
come on! henry and terry are hilarious, sure they fight and bicker a lot but they laugh just as hard as well. i get a sense of real connection and acceptance in spite of the heated arguments. just 2 very competitive and intense individuals and a counterbalance to other teams’ overall niceness. also enjoy seeing such an alpha navy man get whupped by his wife’s mouthing off! curious to see more how the 2 stand the stress and strain of the race.
marc and rovilson have brains and brawn which they are underplaying. so as not to be a moving target for the other teams? they are a force and the other teams should have realized this early on and strategized appropriately. lets wait and see…
Terri & Henry are the Jonathan & Victoria of this season, though I do also suspect they do have a real connection, in spite of how desperately she wants to be in control.
I’d rather see people not get overly concerned about Marc & Rovilson, who I do agree are a serious physical threat and also smarter than they may look. As it is, they’re going to be strong, regardless of how many brains may be needed. If people waste unnecessary energy forming some sort of alliance with the specific goal of getting rid of them, it has the potential to backfire.