Tuesday 31 May 2011

Amazing Race Australia Episode 3 Recap

Another week has begun and TAR Australia is here to start your week. Okay, so ten teams remain on the race with siblings Ryot and Liberty out last week. Teams are now in Hue,Vietnam and they need to get out of there ASAP before I get sick of watching the same places for TAR:Asia.

Surfers Nathan & Tyler are the first to depart at 11:07 p.m. They open their clue and they are headed to...... Hong Kong!!! Ugh. I don't hate Chinese people or China but I think the race needs to go to other countries. China's great, but yeah. Farmers and Chris & Anastasia follow the surfers closely. Well, other teams follow behind actually. Sam and Renae talk about going to Hong Kong and about not knowing where it is. Pffft. Sam (or Renae) said maybe it was in Singapore. Pfffft (again). I just had to give a laugh at them being do dead serious, but these girls are one of faves. All teams managed to get on the same flight and off they go!

When they land, teams must make their way to the Jumbo floating restaurant and bite into hundreds of fortune cookies until they find the right fortune telling them to receive their next clue.
Jumbo Floating Restaurant 
All teams grab a cab and leave. Jeff & Luke seem to have problems with cab drivers but eventually get into one. Mo & Mos, Nathan & Tyler, Jeff & Luke, Dave & Kelly, and Sam & Renae got into the first boat with Dave's leg aching like hell which pissed him off (although he DID admit that he was being overacting). Chris & Anastasia missed the first boat by a second but the boat didn't stop for them as Dave was having a riot with the driver. So the first five teams munched their way though reading every fortune they opened. Minutes later, the second boat arrived with Chris & Anastasia and Alana & Mel on it. No obutne still got the right fortune as the third boat arrived carrying the last teams: Anne-Marie & Tracy, Mo & Mos and Joey & Richard (who got lost). 

Jeff & Luke reading their fortune
Then, one thing shocked me. Richard and Joey, who were the last to arrive there, got it first! What!? Okay, so I know this was just about luck but still! Major ugh. They get their next clue and they see a Detour and a Fast Forward. Instinctively, they go for the FF since they are the first ones out. Mo & Mos (a.k.a. Momos) quickly follow and chose the Fast Forward hoping to win it and get first on this leg. Well, that works for me, it's only down to luck at transportation then. Surfers, Jeff & Luke and sisters got their fortunes right and they all choose the Detour. It was a choice between Lion Dance or Kung Fu Stance. In Lion Dance, teams had to dress up and perform a traditional lion dance to the satisfaction of the lion dance master. In Kung Fu Stance, teams had to perform a series of precise Kung Fu movements to the satisfaction of the Kung Fu master, then break six clay tiles before receiving their next clue. Nathan & Tyler and Jeff & Luke choose to do Kung Fu Stance while Alana & Mel choose Lion Dance. Anne-Marie & Tracy, Dave & Kelly, Matt & Tom and Sam & Renae chose to do Kung Fu Stance while Chris & Anastasia chose to dance. 

Kung Fu Stance
Meanwhile, Joey and Richard just arrived at the Fast Forward location, reads their FF clue and poof! It tells them to shave their heads. Joey excitedly said she'll do it. Bah. Whatever. 
Joey getting her head shaved
They finish the task in a matter of seconds and they're out! They're now headed to the Pitstop which is a relief to me as they won't be seen anywhere in the remaining minutes of the show. 

Richard and Joey after shaving their hair
Mo and Mos just got into the FF location and read that the FF's already been taken. Dang. Now they have to go back all the way to the Detour location. Skip, skip and Richard & Joey just arrived at A Ma Cultural Village which is the Pitstop for this leg. Ugh. They won 10,000 A$. K. Whatever. Back at the Detour, all teams are now performing the tasks together with Dave having a hard time learning Kung Fu. Eventually, all teams at the Kung Fu task got their clues and are now headed to Macau. Anne-Marie and Tracy had a hard time learning the stances that they had to switch tasks. Mel & Alana and Chris & Anastasia got their dances correctly and are also on the same boat with the rest of the teams. That leaves the Big W girls and the Momos in last place.
Matt and Tom breaking clay tiles


 After arriving in Macau, the seven teams raced to the Venetian Macau where they'll have to play a game of Baccarat and must win a couple of rounds to receive letters which will form as their next destination. Jeff & Luke are mesmerized by Macau's beauty and walked slowly to take it all in. I mean, who wouldn't? Okay, teams play the card game (I don't know how it works) but the girl teams got it quickly and off they go to A ma Cultural Village. 
Teams playing Baccarat

Skip skip blah blah. Teams struggle at the Roadblock as they had to arrange the lanterns with pictures of the 12 zodiac animals in order for the gate to the pitstop to open. Mel & Alana got there first and Mel did the Roadblock (again!). Ugh. Alana's really scared when it comes to solo tasks. They helped the surfers along the way and got to the mat in second and third places respectively. The last three teams at the task were the models, big W ladies, and Momos. After getting frustrated in the task, Sam & Renae decided to use the Express Pass and proceed to the Pitstop before they get in last. Goodbye EP!
Mos solving the Roadblock
So it's down to the last two: Momos and Big W ladies. After a lot of struggling, Mos took the 4 hour penalty and had to sit through it while Anne-Marie was also having problems of her own. As the girls stepped on the mat, I was relieved that they made it before the Momos' time was up until....Grant asked them if they took the penalty too. Which they answered, "yes". WHAT!????? Which means Momos are safe and one of my favorites are gone. Sniff. That's it for this week folks, come back next week after I mourn for the loss of the best team ever.

Order of Finish:
Richard/Joey
Mel/Alana
Nathan/Tyler
Kelly/Dave
Matt/Tom
Jeff/Luke
Anastasia/Chris
Sam/Renae (Express Pass used)
Mo/Mos
Anne-Marie/Tracy (eliminated)






Saturday 28 May 2011

The Son of Neptune killed me

Yes. You heard me. The second book from the Heroes of Olympus series killed me this morning. I woke up in a bad mood (again) for my cousin was hammering mad just outside my window. So I jumped out of bed with my eyes puffy and my temper high and marched my way outside to rant on everyone. Okay, I didn't do that. Why the heck would I? They're fixing the roof and I couldn't make them leave with half the roof still open. Okay, so I opened my PC and checked my Twitter, Facebook, blah blah blah until...... I saw the cover of THE SON OF NEPTUNE!!!

Tada!!!! I know, awesomesauce!
 I don't know why but I like it better than The Lost Hero. 


So what do you say?

Anyway, I also read the first chapter of The Son of Neptune and voila! Percy's back, baby! Yes! You heard me again. Although I thought the sneak peek was too short (10 pages only) but I had to admit it was exciting! 
October 4, 2011 is the date of its release and I, along with the others, am busy sitting in the corner waiting for the months to pass. Just wake me up when September ends. ;) Cool! It fits!

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Amazing Race Australia Episode 2 Recap

Another exciting episode if TARAus is here! Last week, teams traveled from Melbourne, Australia to Lombok, Indonesia where they participated in a ricecake throwing ritual, scuba diving and counting a million bills. Mo and Mos survived elimination last week and need to check in first place this week or incur a 30-minute penalty. Recap time!

Sam and Renae were the first ones to leave the pitstop were models Sam and Renae. They open their first clue and it tells them to fly to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Fly people, fly! On the other thought, Vietnam? Ugh. I've watched 3 consecutive races with Vietnam as a destination already so I'm safe to say, "I just hope they pass by it".
All teams followed and Mo and Mos are worried about the 30-minute penalty they have if they don't check in first. All the teams are at the airport and Chris called Anastasia and "idiot" which caused a fight between themselves. Pffffffft!!! I've been called an idiot my entire life and all I did was cut their heads off. No need to cause a scene. All right, teams booked their flights and I was surprised that there were 4 separate flights to Ho Chi Minh City. Really?! If this was the U.S. version, teams would sneak behind the other teams and checked the flights they booked. Yeah, whatever so back to the scene.

Turns out, Sam & Renae, Ryot and Liberty and Chris & Anastasia got on the same direct flight to Ho Chi Minh City and is the first plane to arrive. I was, once again, surprised on how those two bickering lovebirds got on the same plane with the first two teams. Meanwhile Alana & Mel, Mo & Mos and the surfers get on the same plane due to arrive second. Bikers Dave & Kelly were lone rangers on the plane due to arrive third via KL or is it Singapore? While the rest of the teams get on the same flight due to arrive last.
The frist three teams got an early lead and are now headed to the Saigon Opera House and find the lady with their names written on her fan.

Sibling Ryot and Liberty finding their name on the correct fan

I found myself laughing sometime at this task when teams where calling out, "Oh Miss Saigon! Where are you?". After hearing "Miss Saigon", I was actually thinking of Lea Salonga. Haha. Yeah, whatever. 
Models got the right fan first, followed by Dating tam and the siblings. Now they're off to Hue, Vietnam! What? Only 30 minutes in Ho Chi Minh and they're off to some other place? Ok. I buy that. 
So teams arrive from different flights and all of them killed it. Well, except for Richard and Joey who were the last ones out. I don't like them anyway, so who cares?

The first three teams' flight got delayed which means they'll all be on the same flight to Hue! Yes! Finally! I want all teams to be bunched up together and have a tight fight! So when they arrive, they head to Tran Thanh Mai Garage where they encounter Hours of Operation. Yep, I knew this was coming having watched the third season of the Asian version. So teams get some rest for a big day ahead of them.

The next day, all teams are prepared to kick some butt and ready to die. So when the gate opens, all teams push one another and cause some stampede. Poor cameraman. They didn't have to cause a stampede as they'll only be a second away from each other. Ha!

Their next task is to change a car's tire and oil. Everybody did it right with the father-son team Jeff & Luke ahead. They rip open their clue and....Detour! Carry Fowl or Carabao. In Carry Fowl, teams must gather twenty live chickens and carry them (the traditional way - on their shoulder) to a designated retailer in a nearby market. In Carabao, teams had to choose a marked field and use an ox-drawn plow to till the soil, until the plow caught on a buried rope attached to a hidden clue. Jeff & Luke choose Carabao and off they go. Sam & Renae seem to have some mental blocks and did they tire-changing task in 10th place where the entrepreneurs finish last (again). Here are the list of teams who chose to do Carry Fowl: Surfers, Bikers, Farmers, the "Mos", models and entrepreneurs. The rest did the carabao. Dave pronounced it as "ca-ra-bo-wa) which made me snicker again. 
Joey changing tires
Teams who did Fowl finished it quickly and even managed to get ahead of those at the Carabao task. Surfers are now in the lead followed by farmers and dating couple. Jeff & Luke lost their lead as they stumbled in the mud finding for the marked flag. In the end, only Chris & Anastasia and Jeff & Luke did the Carabao task successfully while others had to switch. 
Jeff & Luke plowing 
Nathan and Tyler are now headed to Khải Định Tomb where they find a Roadblock. Who's in line for a king's ransom? In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to retrieve seven coins representing the seven emperors of the Nguyễn Dynasty in Vietnam at the tomb of Minh Mạng, bring them back to Khải Định Tomb and put the coins in the correct order of the reign of the emperors. Nathan volunteered to do the task. So now the three leading teams are the surfers, dating team and farmers. Anastasia and Tom did the task. The remaining teams started to arrive one by one with the Mos, Models, Bikers, Entrepreneurs and Jeff & Luke. Mo, Sam, Kelly, Joey and Mo did the task. While the bottom three teams appear to be Anne-Marie and Tracy, sisters and siblings. 

Anastasia doing the Roadblock

After a lot of going back and forth, Anastasia completes the Roadblock first with the surfers and farmers just seconds behind her. All three were now headed to the pitstop! Yay! 3 way race! Anastasia & Chris got lost while Nathan & Tyler come in first! Great job! Farmers come in second and Chris & Anastasia come in fourth. 

Meanwhile, the bottom three have just arrived at the tomb and Tracy, Mel and Ryot do the task. All teams were confused and tired of this task and I was just bored. Mo & Mos checked in fourth but had a 30 minute penalty for not coming in first. Jeff & Luke had a footrace to the pitstop with Sam & Renae but the father and son checked in fourth and the models in fifth. Back at the tomb, Joey is pissed off that no one wants to work with her. Get lost baby kangaroo! Bikers checked in at 6th place and Mo and Mos in 7th. They dropped 3 places which isn't good. Only 4 teams remain and Tracy got it on her first try and got to the pitstop in 8th place. Mel was looking confused so Joey offered to help (no! resist temptation!) and she happily accepted. Darn. Mel got it right and Joey was begging for the answers so Mel gave it to her (sucker!). Ryot was all alone now as Joey gave Mel & Alana a 2 minute leeway for them to get ahead. Unfortunately, Richard and Joey's taxi driver was driving at the speed of light and managed to pass the sisters which made Mel mad. Cut her head off Mel! So the entrepreneurs checked in 9th and the sisters in 10th. 
Ryot and Liberty cam in last and were eliminated. Ok, I'm darn tired and need to finish this. Liberty cried at the pitstop, blah blah blah, THE END. 

Stay tuned next week as teams get more tensed with each other in HK! Yay!

Saturday 21 May 2011

My Thoughts on The Amazing Race



As my usual self, i always get stoked when watching an Amazing Race episode. So when I first heard about the Amazing Race Australia, I was actually pretty excited about it. Let me tell you how I began to fall in love with this crappy show. Shall we?


It was in May 2009 that I first saw the show. It was summer and my cousin and her family decided to take an 8-day vacation in Manila. Problem is, there was no one to watch over our grandma who lives there and couln't walk. It was just another aunt of ours who took care of her and so, she needed assistance. My family was always close to my cousin's so we decided to spend our summer there while they were away. It was just the four of us during daytime in those eight days of freedom- my aunt, me, my brother and my grandma. My mom work during the day and comes home at night.

So it was us and two televisions for entertainment. Good thing there was cable and we were able to 'channel surf' the TV for other interesting shows. Being here in the Philippines, we didn't have CBS or any other U.S. channel they had there. One hot, lazy summer day, I surfed the crappy television for a good show to watch, and guess what? Yes, I spotted The Amazing Race on AXN. I heard of The Amazing Race before but i never saw it. Same situation with Survuvor which i ALWAYS pass by the channels and not bothering to watch it. What else was interesting during my "meeting" with TAR is that, it was the season finale of Season 14!
Yep, it was in Hawaii and Tammy/Victor, Jaime/Cara and Margie/Luke were all racing for the million. I didn't even know they were racing the most important leg of all until all teams stressed and made a bid fuss over a taxi break. (I'm talking to you Jaime). All i remember was the three teams were carrying the pig to some place with two redheaded girls struggling on the task. Yep, i still remember Jaime's yelling on poor Cara who I could remember was very frustrated. I found myself cheering for Margie and Luke (which I sometimes regret) being impressed with Luke's hearing problems. I hated the cheerleaders that episode and i was so happy the didn't win. In the end, it was the Asians who won and I didn't really care. They didn't really stand out for me even though they deserved it.

I still remember these scenes in my head. My first episode of The Amazing Race
Tammy and Victor doing the pig task

Jaime and Cara carrying the pig
Margie and Luke at the pig task



So there you have it, my first experience with the race around the world. During the next days, I found myself watching the race again but with different teams. Why, it was The Amazing Race Asia 3! I remembered the task in India where they had to ask a local to tell a joke and present it to the judges. I forgot why, but things changed and I didn't really like watching TAR now. Instead, I was hooked with the wackiest game show ever- Wipeout!
 
     
Wipeout's signature obstacle: the Big Balls

I argued constantly with my brother on who gets to watch at the bigger television. I wanted Wipeout and he wanted The Amazing Race. Weird. I know. I spent another year without any involvement with the race. Instead, I found other things i got excited about. Reading Percy Jackson, enjoying my last year in highschool, being interested in music, etc.

But Fate had its ways, in the first week of November, we slept at my cousin's house again and yes, you guesssed it again- I was watching The Amazing Race. It was already season 17! Three seasons passed and i finally watched TAR again. Well, I didn't know it was season 14 that I first watched. It was Episode 6 that i watched, "Run Babushka, Run" and I found it a funny episode! 3 days later, (it was a Monday since we watch the show a day later) i found myself watch The Amazing Race Asia 4 on AXN! So two Amazing Race versions in 1 week? Awesomesauce! To be honest, i loved the Asian version compared to season 17. There were two Filipino teams, and as any Filipino out there, I cheered for those two! Richard & Richard were the tough teams you had to look aout for but were constantly placing second. Meanwhile, Jess and Lani were the teams that were not a threat at first but slowly clawed their way to the top. They're the nicer and Filipino version of Redheads Jaime & Cara but unlike the Reds, these two maintained their first place finish in a double-length leg. (Jaime and Cara dropped from first to third)
Nick dressed up as a Babushka as part of the Roadblock

So I decided to start watching the race again even if I never got to watch the premiere episode of both versions. But as expected, i caught up quickly with the racers' names, faces and strengths (with no help from Wikipedia, mind you) and memorized everyone in just an episode. While watching season 17, I was rooting for bubbly Mallory and her dad, Gary. I hated Girl teams and was happy to see Brook and Claire stop for gas during a leg in Russia which cost them an amount of time. Well, I was wrong for hating them, as the finale neared, I found myself laughing at their reactions and jokes during the race. I love teams who are nice and funny no matter how they look like and I must say, that's what you need to become a fan favorite.
Nat and Kat winning TAR 17
I was actually not surprised to see Brook and Claire in the final 3. Although they only won one leg, these girls know how to avoid racing at the back and conctantly got second or third places. I was sad when Gallory was eliminated in Oman due to bad directions. Ugh. Why do you sell maps that aren't even accurate?! But on the other hand, I was glad that one blonde was out. There were just too many blogs that season (e.g. Mallory, Brook, Stephanie, Jill, Katie and Rachel). See? I won't lie, I did sometimes get confused with Jill and Stephanie who both raced with their boyfriends who-sigh- had the same hair color.

It's getting late writing this actually so i have to FAST FORWARD. *wink* Weeks before the finale of both seasons, I found myself seeking for spoilers. (Do NOT do that, it diminishes the suspense in the show) and did that until the finale. I found one tweet from Twitter that read: "Nat and Kat won the amazing race. Jess and lani won the amazing race asia". About Nat and Kat, I honestly didn't care. I wanted Gallory and since they were eliminated, I didn't know if I should continue watching. But when I read that Jess and Lani won, I was so darn glad! Many were surprised by their performance by placing first on three consecutive legs. But on that same week were four teams remained, Jess and Lani got eliminated and didn't make the final 3! What!? There were rumors that that leg was going to be a non-elimination and that Singaporean girls, Michelle and Claire, were going to be booted that night. I couldn't believe it at all. I didn't sleep well that night as I was busy letting the thought that my faves were eliminated sink in my mind. Although there was one Filipino team left, I didn't feel like watching the finale. But as a TAR fanatic, I moved on with it and watched the exciting finale on December 9. The remaining Filipino team won (Richard/Richard) and I was happy for them but I would've been jumping on the couch cheering for Jess and Lani if they were on the final 3.
Back to the U.S. version, I watched the finale 4 days later (Dec. 13) and was stoked to see who won. I actually forgot about that tweet on Nat and Kat winning (as it left with Jess and Lani's elimination) the race and were the first ever all-female team to win the race! Happy for them, they deserved it. My other favortite team, Brook and Claire came in second with boring team Jill and Thomas placing third. During the end of season 17's finale, Phil Keoghan announced that season 18 will be an all-star edition! People cheered, The Amazing Race became a trending topic on Twitter and I just found out what an all-star edition was.
Weeks later, the cast were revealed and I was stoked to see Gary and Mallory joining the rest! Awesome! Now I can get back watching the Race. There were a lot of spoilers in this season that 2 months before it aired, people already knew the placement of the teams on the first leg having spotted in Sydney, Australia. A lot of people were thrilled they'd be visiting Aussie but it wasn't such a fuss for me since TARA4 just visited it. So yeah, I checked out the teams from their season and I actually LIKED Jaime and Cara. Cara's that pretty and nice redhead who seems to follow Jaime's orders. While Jaime was the one who barked at taxi drivers and was the competitive one. So, Jaime/Cara, Gary/Mallory and Amanda/Kris were my picks. I was sad to hear the information leakage that Amanda/Kris and the Redheads got eliminated in 11th and 9th places respectively. There were a lot of cheers from people as these returning teams not only have some Unfinished Business to take care of but are also fan favorites. Jet and Cord, the Goths and the Globetrotters seemed to have the most number of fans but since i never watched their seasons, I only asked a couple of people on the Internet.
The Filipino teams from TARA4 Jess and Lani (top) and
Richard and Richard (bottom)


Fast forward and February came. Yay! Season 18 aired and people were as stoked as I am. Everyone loved the challenges and so did I but it was in March that the Reds were out. Sigh. Ever had that feeling when you wanted to cut someone's head off all because they Uturned your favorite team? That's exactly how I felt at that moment. And just like evryone else, I quickly moved on. Until that leg in Switzerland that eliminated the cowboys, Jet and Cord and a big fuss started. I had to admit, they were the nicest people on the show. Cord sent me a thank you message on Twitter when I told him I was supporting their team. *Awww shucks!* People on Facebook were fighting on the "cheating" issue but I had nothing to say about that but "It wasn't cheating." You actually give the answers to the others at your own risk. They all did that to eliminated the Cowboys but I had to admire them and the Goths for doing it all by themselves and had no idea about the sharing of answers.

Finally, the most dreaded day came and season 18 had to end. In the end, sisters Kisha and Jen were the winners and Gary and Mal came third failing to claim the title of the first ever parent-child team to win the race. Sigh.
Kisha and Jen: second all-female team to win the race

So another awesome year with a lot of adventure and action. It was this moment that I said, "I Love The Amazing Race!". In fact, when I reach 21, I'm going to apply for the Asian version. So goodbye and enjoy your life.......but wait!


Another version of the Race is coming?! That's right, TAR Australia premiered just this Monday and I was happy to see it! So another adventure just started and I feel like it's going to be nonstop! TAR 19 comes (acc. to my calculations) just as TAR Aussie ends. Woohoo! No word on TARA5 yet but TAR: China Rush 2 is coming soon too! *faints* I haven’t watched any of those crappy China Rush episodes (too much China bored me) a lot of people say that it’s actually better than all TAR: Asia seasons combined! Really? I usually get bored when the race comes to China again (No offense). We’ll see about that. ;)

Thursday 19 May 2011

Watching TAR 18's past episodes...

This post is made to annoy you. Kidding. Just wanted to share that I've been watching the past episodes of TAR 18 lately and I was surprised by some stuff that I actually forgot or missed during the show. Just 20 minutes ago, I watched the third episode where Mel/Mike got eliminated in Japan. (Thanks AXN!)

And I thought Margie/Luke and Mel/Mike were the friendly to the racers from their season when they ditched the Reds. -_- It was just pure luck Jaime/Cara made it. But I have to say I was happy to see Mel/Mike back. I wasn't surprised they were the first ones out. They can be unbeatable at some certain circumstances. They even won a leg in their season. Well, that's all for today. Just stopped byt to disturb you. Now off you go! tata!
Jen doing the Roadblock

Globetrotters doing the Detour: Prayer of Purity
Goths doing the Detour: Frog of Luck

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Amazing Race Australia fake(?) Wiki Page!

WTF!? I bet this is a fake!

The Amazing Race Australia - Episode 1 Recap

So here it is! My recap of TAR Australia's premiere episode! So now that you've seen the 11 teams, let's do some recap!!


The first episode opens with the introduction of the teams. If you haven't checked out the teams yet, click here. So 11 helicopters are transporting the teams to the Starting Line: The Melbourne Cricket Ground! And guess what's the big new after winning the first leg of the race. Yep. The EXPRESS PASS!
The Express Pass allows the team to skip any task they don't want to complete.
All right. so everybody's so excited blah blah and when Grant says "Go!", everyone runs to one of the 11 clueboxes waiting for them on the field. Really? A cluebox for each team? Hmmm.. production seems to be rich nowadays.
Grant says 'Go!' and all of the teams stumble on one another as they grab their first clue. And it's a Roadblock! Who is your tower of strength? In the first Roadblock, one member must climb then abseil one of the six light towers of the Cricket Ground which stands 75 meters, to receive their next clue. Renae, Ryot, Dave, Jeff, Matt, Tyler, Chris, Tracy, Mel, Richard and Mos opted to do the task. By the way, Grant announced that a member can only perform up to 6 roadblocks during the entire race so teams must choose wisely. Hmm. Phil never said that, it's actually common sense. So teams picked on of two numbers in each tower since teams may perform only one at a time. Everybody didn't have a problem except for Mos. (I Don't know which is Mo or Mos since they look similar). He chose the tower where Renae was doing the task. Unfortunately, Renae was having some sort of fit caused by her acrophobia. No problem, Renae. Stay up there all day if you want to. 
Ryot and Liberty finishing the Roadblock
So surfers dudes, Tyler and Nathan finish the task first (no surprise there) and off they go to Lombok, Indonesia! Actually this leg is more of a copy from The Amazing Race Asia 4's Leg 8. Once there, teams sign up for 3 different boats that leave at different times. The first boat w/c contains only 3 teams, depart at 6:00 a.m.. Boat 2 leaves at 6:30 with four teams and Boat 3 leaving at 7 also with 4 teams. Team Surfers are already hitting the road with the rest of the gang catching up. Tracy got stuck rappelling down, and Muslim teams leave last. At the airport, Team Surfers grab a flight to Lombok via Darwin which arrives at 9 something p.m. while the rest of the gang get on the same direct flight which arrives an hour later. Team Surfers arrive at the signing point first and were happy not to see any other team on the list. 
Matt and Tom buying tickets
Teams greet each other while Mo and Mos decided to pray at the airport's praying room. Ok, works for me. So off they go to Indonesia! it was fun watching 10 teams running like mad fools and waving for taxis. Everyone had a taxi race to the signing place but in the end,  it was Anastasia and Chris and Alana and Mel who joined The Surfers in the first boat while everyone joined the rest at the second and last boat with siblings Ryot and Liberty last. This task was also from TARA4. 

In the morning, the first three teams boarded the boat to an island where they'll have to search the village for a clue. Having watched TARA before, i knew where the clue was hidden and it was only up to the producers to move its location. Unfortunately, they didn't hear me and hid the clue in one of the fishing boats. Ugh. What if some teams watched TARA before? Lame. But in the end, turns out all teams never watched TARA before which makes all teams from different boats cramped in the island. It was then again, the Surfers who found it and ran to get a taxi to lead them to Pura Lingsar where they'll have to participate in a ricecake throwing ritual (again, from TARA4). Then, a chain reaction occurred. Dave and Kelly (Team Bikers) noticed the Surfers suspicious actions and headed to the boat where they found their clue too. Then, they told models Sam and Renae the location of the clue who also told workmates Anne-Marie and Tracy. Phew. Well, at least they told my favorites. After all the rush, everybody else followed with sisters Alana and Mel at the rear of the pack.

Everybody had the same reaction at the ricecake ritual which was "OW!", "AH!", or "Don't hit my face!". Yeah. The Asian teams had that reaction too. Once they got their clue, they must choose between a Detour. Carry or Cash. In Cash, teams were required to make and sell the local traditional Bakso for no less than 5,000 Rpper bowl, and were required to sell 15 of them. In Carry, teams were required to find a market stall and carry traditional produce on their heads to another market stall within the same market before retrieving their next clue. If i were on that race, I'd probably choose Carry. I wouldn't take my chances with the locals who could put you down. Surfers chose Carry. Well, they can balance on surfboards so why not balance a basket in their heads? And then I was wrong. After a couple of attempts, they were eventually passed by Sam and Renae who killed the task. So much for their lead. This led for their decision to switch tasks. Sam and Renae was on the lead now! Yeah! Just as what happened to the surfers, a lot of teams struggled with their own tasks. Dave and Kelly, Anne-Marie and Tracy, Joey and Richard (who i believed were there for a long time), Ryot and Liberty, Nathan and Tyler and Mo and Mos did Cash. While Sam and Renae, Matt and Tom (who balanced their baskets on their cowboy hats), Alana and Mel, Jeff and Luke and Chris and Anastasia did Carry. 


With Renae and Sam in first, they were now headed to Gili Beach where they had to retrieve a briefcase underwater and count the money inside for them to receive their next clue. 
Once again, all teams managed to catch up with the rest. But it was still Sam and Renae who checked in first at the PitStop and won 10,000 Dollars and the Express Pass! Congratulations guys! it was this task where most teams struggled. Anne-Marie and Tracy had a hard time diving down the water, Dave lost his temper when they got the wrong answer and Tom and Matt losing one bill which led to miscalculations. Fortunately, Dave was being kind and found it on the sand and handed them their missing note. Hmmm.. I seem to like the bikers now. Sadly, it was only down to 2 teams before I knew it. Married Entrepreneurs and Friends Mo and Mos har a really hard time counting the money and were the last two teams left. But it was Mo and Mos who checked in last but were not eliminated! It's a PRE-DETERMINED ELIMINATION LEG suckers! Ugh. That pissed me off. I actually wanted one team to get booted. It was pretty crowded when you have 11 teams to fit in 90 minutes of the show. So there you have it crappers! Watch it again if you want and don't forget to visit next week for episode 2 where I'll (hopefully) write better. Tata!


The Amazing Race Australia - Meet The Teams

Hello citizens of the Earth. i am stoked because of 2 things: 1) i am finally watching TAR Australia and 2) this is my first Blog Post! Yeehaw! So anyway, have you met the teams yet? if not, well here they are:

Alana and Mel - Reunited Sisters from SA

According to their bio, they're from Adelaide and have just recently reunited. Mel ran away from home when she was 15 and when they met, they decided to join the race, blah blah blah. i don't like this team very much. but who knows? things might happen and i might appreciate them. 

Tracy and Anne-Marie - Workmates

They have been friends for 12 years now when they met at their workplace. They also said to be jealous when the U.S. version came to Australia and were sad not to be in it. well here's your day lucky ladies! They strongly remind me of the Bowling Moms from the U.S. Version's Season 5. i don't know if they'll make it far but I'm rooting for them! suck it losers! 

Chris and Anastasia - Dating


They got the looks. They got the smile. But do they have my vote for my favorite? Well, no. i HATE dating teams! They always piss me off with their bickering. And they're the second Aussie team to resemble a U.S. team. 

Is it me, or do they look like Amanda and Kris from seasons 14 and 18? anyway, we all know how Amanda and Kris sucked during uturns so may those two lovebirds won't make it far. i don't like them anyway. sorry. 

Jeff and Luke- Father/Son
Finally! A parent-child team. The only reason I love parent-child teams is because no parent-child teams have won the U.S. version. Luke grew far from his dad due to his parent's divorce. Another reunited team?! I'm really beginning to get pissed by the casting. I'm rooting for this team and I hope they'll make it far!

Dave and Kelly - Married Bikers

                                (Nick and Vicki)
Married bikers? Ugh. The guy is too old! Plus, they said his temper's high and he isn't here to win. Hmmmm. I guess you should watch out for this team then. They remind me of Nick and Vicki from the U.S. version's season 17. And before I move on, does Kelly's hair remind you of someone? That's right, Avril!

Joey and Richard- Married Entrepreneurs

whoa. Hold on. Married?!!! I thought he was he father! Yeah, well. surprise. Blah, Blah. They don't want to know where the places are. In fact, they like to guess where they're headed to. Ugh. 

Matt and Tom- Farmers

Farmers? More like cowboys. Anyway, no team can replace the most famous U.S. team ever born- Jet and Cord. Their bio says they've never been out of Australia and never left the Outback. Pretty good choice of a game where you can travel for free! They might now have Jet and Cord's "Aww Sucks!" attitude but these guys seem to work for me. 

Mo and Mos- Friends
Friends. Both of Egyptian descent. Muslim. Yawn. I Have nothing much to say except for, "Do we need another Manas and Sahil!?"

Tyler and Nathan-Surfers
If there's some one you should look out for in the race, it's probably them. A surfing team is new for me and I'm really stoked to see how well they'll do. I don't hate them, but I don't like them either. We'll see when the race goes on.

Sam and Renae- Models
Aaaaah. My girls. i always root for all-female teams so there's no doubt i'm rooting for them too! They're pretty and tough-looking too! i'm betting they're the toughest among the girl teams around!

Ryot and Liberty- Brother and Sister

I wanna finish this crap now. So, there you go. The last team on the race. Brother and Sister, yeah,yeah. I don't really like this team, thank you very much.

So there you go! the 11 Aussie teams! Tell me who you and don't you like and we'll kick their butts their crap comes out. Kidding. Comment it out and rest in peace. 

P.S. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter which i like to call my "mini Blogger". Just click this crap, Follow and click the crappy Follow button!