Announcement
- Come see my new website at: www.wulander.com
I'm also Twit on Twitter at "wulander"
Wow! I think I'm finally catchin on to this Internet thang! ;-P
My blog
-
Education and Beer
Monday, Dec 8, 2008 4:41PM / Standard Entry
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to fly to Kuala Lumpar and speak to a group of prospective students and their parents at Taylor's University College. Several months earlier, the university had expressed interest in me being their Brand Ambassador for the School of Communications. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure what to make of it initially. However, I quickly realized that this was something special and so I agreed to accept the challenge of motivating and inspiring young people today about higher education with my own life experiences.
Even though I have had my own share of time on stage before a live audience, I have never had the chance to prepare a comprehensive speech for half an hour centering around my own life experiences and the value of an education. In the end, I decided to walk on stage with no notes or any structured presentation. And surprisingly, it went pretty well this first time round. Of course, I could still see some members from the audience either starting to doze off and others discreetly vacating the lecture hall, but I didn't let that deter me from essentially talking non-stop for about forty minutes. Afterwards, my mouth was so dry from talking that next time I'll definitely need to find a moment to drink some water. But all in all, it was a great experience and also very fulfilling to have this unique opportunity to reach out to the youths of today and highlight the importance of an education. I'd like to thank all of the people who took the time to attend my presentation and maybe I'll see you sometime next year again when I make another appearance.
Now that I've got the serious stuff outta the way, it's time to get everyone in the holiday mood for some serious partying with the latest Carlsberg campaign that I've been involved in...
Over the past few weeks, I've been involved with some other Singapore actors and actresses on some work for a festive holiday celebration campaign for Carlsberg...
Yep, that's fellow AnD artist Fiona Xie and Michelle Chia chugging the Carlsberg with me...
Once we nailed down the group shots, it was time to do some solo shots for the campaign...
Agghh...there's nothing more fun than "having" to drink on the job.
Of course, you'd better watch your intake if you're one of those people who get red from alcohol!
And once all the Christmas and New Year's celebration shots are on their way to the printing press, it's time to start thinking about Chinese New Year!
...with Mark Lee and Michelle Chong joining the Calsberg party crew!!
Have a great month of December and make sure to look out for the special Carlsberg road show events at your favorite local pub or bar in Singapore!
-
Rockin in Bangkok for the TARA3 Finale Party
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008 4:59AM / Standard Entry
Even though I was unable to partake in the festivities and merrymaking this year at the Finale Party for The Amazing Race Asia, I'm happy to be able to see that everyone present had a rockin good time! Thanks to Marlene at AXN for sending me these pictures so that I can see how great everyone looks after they're all cleaned up once again! Natalie definitely was back in Miss Universe mode after the race...
The top three teams always enjoy their special time together on stage to share about the entire experience...
...and don't forget to check out the "bump" on Tania, who's got a little "racer" on da way!
A lot of the teams from Season Two and Season One also arrived in Bangkok to partake in the festivities...
Then there's gotta be a group shot for all the teams from this season in the "Toughest Race Ever"...
Congratulations once again to Sam and Vince from Team Hong Kong. Like I said earlier, you two totally deserved every penny of the prize money!
During the night, it seems that Geoff couldn't keep his eyes--and hands--off the big check from AXN for one hundred thousand US Dollars...
...and even snuck off with it in the end!
I wonder if he tried to cash it too?!
-
All Amazing Things Come to an End...for Now!
Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 12:51PM / Standard Entry
And just like that, another season of The Amazing Race Asia has been completed. It's great to know that the show has grown so much in "leaps" and "bounds!" 
As excited as I am from the success of the show, I need to get a little more "grounded" and talk serious for a bit. Congratulations to Sam and Vince from Hong Kong in winning the race. When I warned all the teams that this would be "the toughest race ever," I think they all realized that I wasn't joking around, and the winners truly earned every single penny of that $100,000 USD prize money. Of course, when I'm working on the show, it's "all business" so it's really nice to have this blog site to allow me to display an "alternative" version of Allan Wu.
The last day of the race is always the most exciting. After racing nonstop for weeks on end, we're all more than ready for find out who is going to reach the final pit stop first. And as you all know now, anything can happen to any team at any time during the race so no one is ever safe.
All of us had to take a long tail boat out to Rong Wai Island off the coast of Phuket and the day was a perfect ending to the race...
Some members from our crew even did their own hilarious rendition of Titanic for us to enjoy...
Once we reached the island, it was time to put our work hats back on and fire off the last pieces to camera as quickly as possible because the teams were making their way over to us fast. I had a great time doing some shots in the water...
...and when it was time to change my outfit, I quickly stole some rays
and then raced off to the final pit stop...
While we were waiting for all the teams from this season to assemble for the arrival of the final three teams, I was sweating buckets under the tropical heat as we completed the filming...
This season's finale was definitely different in that each of the last three teams had to lug this heavy treasure chest loaded with one hundred thousand U.S. Dollars cash...
Of course, I would only hand the winning team the correct key to open their chest so that they could enjoy the "fruits of all their labor." A lot of people have been asking me how deep was the treasure chest in the sand? Well, here's a shot of it before we buried it...
As you can see, the treasure chest wasn't really that deep. But because it was so heavy, the teams still had to uncover a lot of sand around the chest just so that they could eventually lift it out. And thank goodness they did so that our crew could strike one final pose with it on the mat!
And so there you have it, this season of The Amazing Race Asia is finally completed. If you didn't already know, there was a huge Finale party in Bangkok last Thursday night. I was all set to attend, but I couldn't change my work schedule in the end so I had to enjoy the final episode from shores of Singapore. Nevertheless, it was still a blast to see the final three teams racing to the climatic conclusion. I will try and get some pictures from the Finale party in Bangkok, but here's a shot of all of us at the wrap party right after the finish of the race...
It's been such a pleasure being your host for this race, and I'd like to thank you for all your support and enthusiasm from one season to the next.
And now, it's time for my favorite part to ride off (or jump off) into the sunset...
So until next time, I'll C ya all later...but I'm sure it'll be sooner!
-
O-Man...I Love It!
Saturday, Nov 15, 2008 9:37AM / Standard Entry
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to chat to fans of The Amazing Race Asia for the first time at AXN's official website, and I just wanted to take this time to thank everyone who dropped in. I apologize if I wasn't able to reply and respond to all your questions, but it's so nice to hear how much you all have enjoyed this season's race. If you would like to read more about the race, then you can check out some of the coverage in this month's Arena, Clive, NuYou, and Gadget3 magazines...
But now with only one episode remaining, it's time to get back to the race!
Of course, we're not always moving very fast with all the equipment and luggage we have to lug. We all had a helluva time trying to get tons of equipment out of India and into Oman...
Oman is an Arab country on the Southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula with temperatures reaching 54 degees Celsius (129 degrees Farenheit) during the summer months. We raced through Dubai in the first season, but it was nice to be back in this part of the world and see how contrasting Oman and Dubai are. I really enjoyed the local food and culture here, and I hope to come back here one day on my own time and see more.
With the last four teams fast on our heels, it always stressful getting from one location to another to complete our shots AND rush over to set up for the pit stop...
Once again after all our required shots are completed, it's to race on over to the pit stop and set up...
Once we learned that the teams were hopelessly lost and far away from the Pit Stop, then I figured it was time to even out some of the tan lines...
After waiting a long while for the teams to get back on the right track, it was time to slap my shirt on and await their arrival. Fortunately, the pit stop was not far from the Road Block in this leg so I could even see from a distance how each team was faring. I think people anticipated that Fuzzy was going to have a tough time with this Road Block challenge, but even I was surprised to receive news that Sam couldn't get up. Vince must have had a gut wrenching experience to see Sam stuck on the line--and to see Geoff and Ida whiz by his teammate.
Because Sam couldn't complete the Road Block, I slapped them with a four hour time penalty. And with only one leg for this race remaining, there won't be much time for them to catch up to Geoff/Tisha and Ida/Tania.
So the stage is set with the final three teams...Who do you think will be the winner of this season's The Amazing Race Asia??
I'd love to sit down and chat, but I need to fly off to the next location to find out myself!
C ya next week for the Season Finale!
-
U-TURN Me On, Geoff and Tisha...
Saturday, Nov 8, 2008 8:42PM / Standard Entry
Well, we just finished up another leg in India, and the teams are really starting to look as tired as they must feel. Actually, all of us in production are really wearing down, but we all still have no qualms cuz where else do you get to see so much of the world in such a short span of time? I'm not sure what this lady below is all about, but I think she must be some sort of a portable religious shrine with the display and small figurine perched atop her head...
I think I might have posted this photo earlier in some other blog, but I absolutely love this shot so here's a boy and his pole again...
If any of you have future aspirations to make it as an air hostess, then this advertisement is pretty compelling. I wonder if "air hosts" can apply too??
With the race trimmed to only four teams, it's become really tight and anything can happen. Singapore team A.D. and Fuzzy were absolutely devastated when they discovered that they were the unfortunate recipients of the dreaded U-Turn from Philippine team Geoff and Tisha. Even though I know some people aren't the biggest fans of Geoff and Tisha, I think they are doing exactly what they need to do to stay in the race and to win it all. Malaysia team Ida and Tania have been really lucky in getting the breaks they need to stay in the race, and it's inspiring to see these two moms continually forge ahead with such a positive and optimistic attitude throughout. Hong Kong team Sam and Vince are really starting to look like the team to beat at this point, but we all know that anything can happen!
When A.D. and Fuzzy finally arrived last to this leg's pit stop, I have never seen them so beaten up mentally AND physically. But then again, a lot of people would probably feel the same way if they had to do both of the Detour tasks while already being in last place. For a moment, people might have thought that they were going to just outright give up and quit. But not A.D. and Fuzzy...I'm sure they've already blown away a lot of people's expectations in terms of how they'd fare in this race, and they only need to make it through a little bit further to at least be in the top three.
Now, while the teams were all roaming aimlessly throughout the crowded streets of Pune to ultimately meet me at the pit stop, I'm once again busy trying to hit up all the spots for my shots...
At last, when the final team has arrived, we can all start wrapping up and take a few pics with the local production crew...
The sun was pretty wicked that day so I figure'd I can even out some color on my face...
And of course, you KNOW I'm more than ready to leap into the next location...and possibly new time zone!
Stats
- After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, ALLAN WU soon realized that his career would veer far away from his Pre-Med major and biotechnology background...
- Occupation: Actor , TV/Radio Host
- Gender: Male
- Total visits: 395,816
