McDonald's Challenge Goes International! Part 1 of 3.

I'm happy to announce that the McDonald's Quarterly Challenge has gone international!!!

For the first time ever, this contest was conducted on the same day in two countries!  While most of us were chowing down here in Hong Kong, the winner from last quarter's contest, "B", competed from Boston.  (More later...)

What started off as a silly high school antic has now attracted the attention of millions!  OK, not really.  But we did have a few more contestants and many more fans this time, which made the competition a lot more fun.

Let's get right to it!  For those reading about this contest for the first time, here's some background: What Drives People to Do Stupid Things with Their Bodies.

MEET THE CHALLENGE

On the menu this quarter, the super-tasty (but super heavy) Filet-o-Fish!

MEET THE CONTESTANTS

No, it'snotDragon Ball Z...it's AnD artistRob Lok!  He's brought with him his American appetite.

My bro "D".

My buddy "T", who had to play catch-up cause he was a half hour late.  Better late than never!  You don't want to miss this!

"Me, Myself, and A Whole Lot of Fried Fish!"

First-EVER female contestant (takes guts, LITERALLY) and AnD artistJo Jo Yee!  You're da bomb, Jo Jo!!!  (In case you're wondering, we weren't making Jo Jo sign a legal waiver; that piece of paper's the contest rules.)

One last group shot...

And we're OFF!!!

LIFE AFTER FEDERAL PENITENTIARY

If you want to see how people eat after being locked away in federal prison for 10 years, then you don't want to miss this...

The first few were easy and we were hungry!

Count-off after about 15 minutes...

"T" arrives late and has some catching up to do.

Rob's serious about winning and sets out on a monstrous pace.  He also employs an interesting "scaffolding/Chinese well" counting system to effectively psyche out the competition.

Jo Jo's eating...but is she enjoying it?

Yuuummmm ...for now!!!!!!!

This was still early on...BEFORE the manager came over to see what the raucous was all about.

Things get serious and it's starting to hurt!

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  "T" starts using the dip-bread-in-water trick at around burger #6.  I double-fist after burger #8.

"D" at #7.

Without telling you the final score at this point, I must give props to Rob.  This dude's a champ!  He finishes 10 burgers about 75 minutes in and is watching the competition trying to catch up to him.  In these photos, Rob attempts #11 as the competition starts to close in.  He also employs the dip-bread-in-water method to reduce the size of the bun.  Some of us can only watch...

After being idle for almost 30 minutes, "D" and "T" both jump back to life and put on the pressure.

Here's our leader.  Can he maintain his lead?  Is that a look of pain?  Or a smile indicating that he knows he's got the field beat? STAY TUNED!