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Episode 8

Wednesday, Nov 5, 2008 4:11PM / Standard Entry

Episode 8

That was close!

Go to the Ruins of St. Paul

We started early in the morning at the Temple and had to go to the Ruins to get the next clue which directed us to go back to the Macau Tower. We were lucky that some kids were touring around on scooters and happened to be hanging around at the temple area. We used their phones to call a taxi to come get us.

Macau Tower

Of course … I knew that the next task would require someone to bungee… what other challenge would there be to do? We arrived second and it was an “hours of operation” in effect so we just stayed there and waited it out. The four teams all bunched together to wait. When the doors opened it was a Roadblock. To even out the Roadblocks Sam decided to do the bungee jump. I really wanted to do it actually but for strategy we needed to even it out. The teams members remaining stayed at the bottom of the tower to wait and we all cheered the other competitors together! When we got the clue it told us to go back to Hong Kong by ferry and then to go to the MASkargo holding centre. Little did we know that Geoff and Tish actually took the helicopter ( which is much faster).

MASkargo

When we got to the cargo holding centre there were MILLIONS of different sized boxes with names that were very similar to all the team members. We had to be very patient but work quickly and efficiently. When watching it on TV… Sam actually missed the box with our names on it… haha!! He’s supposed to be the patient, calm and analytical one too! I found the box on our second sweep! When we opened the box we had to read the letters out loud to the camera before receiving our next clue. My letter was from a family friend in Hong Kong and Sam’s was from his parents. I tried to hold back my emotions but Sam like most of the teams was overcome with emotion. We had been racing for so long and it was great to hear from someone from home. It did hit me though in the taxi ride to the airport and I was a little “spaced”(as seen when exiting the taxi).

Cochin India

We had to travel to Cochin India so when we got to the airport in Hong Kong we we confident that we knew what we were doing. After all it was our home turf and we were 2nd and in front of the other teams. We asked multiple desks and figured out every possible way to get to Cochin.

Now again the next few events made a difference in the final outcome of this leg.

We had found a flight to MUMBAI on AIR INDIA but were unable to purchase tickets because of a some restrictions…..!!!!

We pleaded with the counter and looked for loopholes but we were unsuccessful. ( now … this is the SAME flight that AD &FUZZIE and IDA&TANIA eventually took to Mumbai to transfer to Cochin.. to this day I HAVE NO IDEA how they were able to secure this WHEN both Bernie and Henry and our team were UNABLE TO PERSUADE them…) We shared our info with all the other teams that were there at the airport and told them what our plan were. Ida and Tania weren’t even at the airport at this time, it was just AD FUZZIE and BERNIE HENRY…

instead of waiting for the next bookable FLIGHT…

The next best thing to do was to fly to Singapore from Hong Kong on an earlier flight to catch a flight to Mumbai and then transfer in MUMBAI to the AIR INDIA flight to COCHIN ( the same COCHIN flight that AD &FUZZIE and IDA&TANIA eventually took).

Three teams were all clumped together at the same ticket counters and internet terminals After doing their own research and thinking about the situation Bernie and Henry decided that this was best for their team too since (they had a choice to stick with AD and FUZZIE whom did not buy any tickets to anywhere yet at this point ) there should have been no problem getting to Cochin because we had more than 2 hours to do this when arriving in MUMBAI… but…

We had actually arrived in Mumbai ahead of AD & FUZZIE and IDA & TANIA) but because we had not taken an Air India flight into Mumbai we had to do customs and check out and then check back in… ( or something like that) … For some reason this process took an excess of 2 HOURS… both of our teams were quite discouraged and because this should not have happened. IT SHOULD NEVER TAKE THIS LONG….

Because of this … we had to think on our feet and the next best thing to do was to travel to the domestic terminal and take a flight on a domestic carrier to Cochin… but again… we had to wait and hoped that the hours of operations were going to slow the other teams down.

When arriving to Cochin in the morning both of our teams knew that this would probably be it … either us or them … but we both help each other to the Temple to get the next clue.

Temple

When arriving at the Temple we got our blessing and then our next clue. It required us to travel quite a distance to wash an elephant.

Washing the Elephant

By this time we knew that we were the last two teams because there were only two clues left in the box in front of the temple. This is when you run on adrenaline… haha and you are at the mercy of your transportation. THE KEY… IS NOT TO GET LOST… which in a foreign land is not easy to do…

After about an hour and a half drive we arrived at our elephant washing destination and picked the elephant that was closest to the water. We quickly washed the elephant and made sure to handle it with respect and care…

DETOUR FISH or FILL

After reading the clues I thought that carrying fish would be the better choice. We were wired and I don’t think that concentrating on a delicate task would be good … as well the location of the FISH task seemed to be more well known so FISH it was.

When we got there we saw the GIANT fish that we had to TRANSPORT… MAN THEY WERE HUGE!! This was a RACE dammit so I decided to power through and take 2 at a time… the fish were slippery, frozen, smelly and awkwardly balanced. The first trip was torturous because we had NO idea how far and where the restaurant was. We figured that someone there would know and that they would help us … luckily some dude showed us the way. It was quite a long trek… maybe 15 minutes pf walking with the fish over my shoulders and then

having to walk upstairs to drop it off … grrr. I was ANGRY hahaha… the second trip was much better because we knew how far we had to walk and could pace ourselves.

Bolgatty Palace.

After delivering the 6 fish we finally got the Pit Stop clue. We ran to our taxi who kindly stayed for us and got on our way… all we could do is pray that he knew where to go and that there would be no traffic. It was the longest taxi ride since we had no idea where Henry and Bernie were…maybe we figured that they had done the Fill task but were not sure if they were ahead or if we would be able to beat them in a footrace. In the taxi we both agreed that we had done the best that we could and that we would be content with the results no matter what they were when we arrived at the mat! When we got near to the area… another car had come out of nowhere and plugged up the single lane way… we honked and honked but they wouldn’t leave so we decided to pay the taxi driver and run to the pit-stop he said it was about 5 minutes away … MORE like 15 minutes away and the the actual pit stop was deep into the palace grounds near the water…

I was exhausted from carrying the fish, and running from the taxi , searching for the pit stop while carrying my backpack… we jumped onto the mat and waited for Alan’s response….

You are team number….. FOUR….!!!

We actually had mixed feelings because we knew that we had scraped by and avoided elimination but that meant having to say good-bye to Henry and Bernie who are really cool and funny. The Race definitely became more serious at that point since there were only four teams left.

Team Hong Kong… LUCKY TO BE… ALIVE NOT DEAD …..

VMC

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Episode 7

Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008 6:38PM / Standard Entry

Episode 7

Woah Nelly that was action packed!

Goldfish Market

The first thing we did when we got our clue was to give Tania and Ida money for the next leg. This was a tradition that we knew of from the previous Races… We opened the clue and went to the Goldfish Market in Mong Kok to pick up 2 goldfish each.

They were very interesting, oddly shaped and rather large goldfish… not the ones you typically think of. We had then returned back to Hong Kong side and went to the fish store in Sheung Wan. The store was not open yet so we decided to rest and go to a nearby hotel for some shut-eye. In the morning we went to the fish store and all the teams except Tania and Ida were there... We queued up first in line and exchanged our fish for the clue.

Travel to Macau

Our clue asked us to travel to Macau by ferry. I knew we were in Sheung Wan and so the Ferry Terminal was close by… but I wasn’t’ exactly which would be faster… We initially flagged a taxi down and I think the other teams saw us… but we decided to run to the terminal when I realized that we were only a few blocks away. We were able to get onto the next ferry to Macau within 15 mins of leaving the fish store. At Macau we were we had to take a pedicab to Senado Square to get our next clue. We looked for a “stronger” driver because we knew that we would be getting him to go as fast as he could. The clue box was easily visible as it was in the middle of the square.

Macau Tower

The clue directed us to Macau Tower and there was a caution that there was a “Yield” ahead. We quickly grabbed a taxi and headed over to the Tower. In the taxi we contemplated how the yield would affect the game.

Commentary ---

Now apparently the next few events that happened have caused quite a stir with the people watching when it was shown on TV…. And I’ll add my thoughts to each of them

On screen we were shown to have said “ We would yield our direct competitors and they shall remain nameless…. And it’s not advantageous to yield them at this point in time and show our hand completely…” I will tell you all right now that there were more than one teams who we thought were direct competitors for whatever reason. Yes we did get along with everybody but it was a RACE… now… That clip that was shown was purposely used to set up a clip for later… we definitely had a lot of thoughts that were not shown about different scenarios with regards to the yield… but regardless our main objective when using a Yield would be to create distance between us and another team to either allow us to “win that leg” or not be eliminated…. knowing that we had yet to do a task this leg and that we had to go to Macau tower as well as knowing that Tania and Ida would be very far behind us… we decided to NOT use the Yield on ANYONE…. ( I thought we would be bungee jumping and yielding somebody would not make a real difference since it was early in this leg and if it was bungee jumping --- it could be done only one at a time anyway… there would be a lot of time wasted in queuing up in line for the next person and the yield wouldn’t do much).

Now the next clip regarding the yield showed Geoff and Tish saying “ I just hope that strategy wise that the Hong Kong boys have yielded someone… hopefully not US…. cause they would think that WE were far behind… “   (That in itself says that they were not sure what we were planning to do.. including possibly yielding them)

When we opened the clue we realized that it probably wasn’t’ bungee jumping since it read “Who wants to climb the tower of success” I decided to do it since I thought that it would probably a physically demanding task.

I had to climb the tower’s mast … all the way to the TOP to receive the next clue. Apparently the tower is the 10th tallest tower in the world….

I got geared up and ready to go. It really was a physically demanding task as the climb was up multiple ladders inside and then outside the tower. It just seemed to be never ending! The outside part of the climb was quite scary since you’re extremely high up on the mast and if I remember correctly there is just one safety clip between our harness and the ladder.

As well the person giving me the clue was shaking the mast so that it would move!!! FREAKY!!!!   Now while I was climbing there was drama brewing down in the waiting area….

Geoff and Tish had apparently yielded Henry and Bernie… then….
When Tish told Sam … Sam gave her a “high five” and said “that’s cool”… Sam has reflected on this action in his blog already …see part of it below:

Sam:

Was I really happy to see Bernie & Henry being yielded? No. My reaction was over-done. When Geoff said that they had yielded a team, I had fully expected them to yield Henry & Bernie (which I believe wasn't personal; it was a strategic move. Bernie & Henry ARE really a very strong team; why yield a physically weaker team? hopefully, they will really see that it's a compliment). So when Tisha revealed that it was really Bernie & Henry who were yielded, I was so excited at my right prediction that I high-fived Tisha. I wasn't so much excited at the fact that Bernie & Henry got yielded, but more excited at my correct prediction. And so upon hindsight, appearing happy was probably stupid & I don't EVEN remember ever doing that until i saw it on TV - because it can be interpreted in wrong ways.

Dragonboat

The next task we needed to paddle a dragon boat around a buoy to receive our next clue. I am really competitive and just want to get things done. I was extremely tired from climbing the mast and then we had to paddle a dragon boat with only two people around a buoy. I was irritated because you must work as a team and paddle together with the oars entering the water at the same time… that’s why there is a drummer so that you could keep the same pace and be efficient but Sam wasn’t keeping with the beat. I have paddled dragon boat before so I got into that mindset and did what we used to do by shouting and chanting together and then to add energizing words like “Pump It Up !!!” … Sam thought I was getting down on him so he shouted back at me… with some words that got BLEEPED hahaha! I’m not the only one now with the BLEEPED WORDS HAHA!! He realized that he was wrong later ...haha..

When we finally returned to the dock we got our next clue.

Detour

We had to go to the Casino to play Blackjack and win 9 hands to spell the word COMPLETED.   I thought that the casino would be easier to find than the Pagoda and that when leaving we would be able to get a taxi easily too… As well, winning 9 hands of Blackjack is quite easy… ( I have played before and I know the strategies to win… PLUS I’ve watched SWINGERS ----- "always double down on 11 !!! " HAHA ) When we got there we had to put on “Formal” wear before starting.   It was quite easy to play and it was a nice change to dry off inside. We also thought that it would be funny to change the costumes and names around on Henry and Bernie

( the only reason that we did this was because we were friends with them not because we didn't like them ...and I knew that they would appreciate the JOKE and think that it was funny… AND THEY DID …… YOU CAN SEE HENRY AND HEAR BERNIE LAUGHING.....

We would have done that to GEOFF AND TISH too but we knew that they went to do the lion dance.)

Chinese Zodiac and Pit-Stop

We had to travel to the Ah Mah cultural centre Colane island in Macau to find our next clue. It was POURING RAIN and there were NO TAXIS... and we even flagged some down that declined our business. When we go there we realized that it was the pit-stop but before entering it we had complete the CHINESE ZODIAC first. Neither of us memorized the Zodiac but we had enough clues and also enough knowledge of our friends and family’s Zodiac characters that we were able to do it in two tries. We only got mixed up with one of the animals actually.

2nd place ….I’m content with our placing but that TV and PS3 sure looked SWEET !!!! DAMN… so close!!!

….watch to see what happens next episode...it will be intense, Thursday night on AXN!

VMC

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Episode 6

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2008 11:14AM / Standard Entry

We're on our way home ... but still in the game and still in first!

Fly to Hong Kong

When we opened the clue we were excited to fly to Hong Kong. I wanted to go to unexplored places far flung from my previous travels but as far as getting ahead in the Race… I was quite happy to travel to our home turf. We were able to take the early flight out from Taipei and knew exactly where to go.

(guest announcer for the FINAL CALL ...haha)

(Sam's part time job ...)

King’s Park sports ground is not exactly well known but I play Slo-pitch softball there and was able to direct our taxi. We had no idea on what our task would be. I was prepping to kick soccer balls or rugby balls or do some obstacle course….but all we had to do was run through the rugby players practice… I was too quick for them.. haha… and did my patented shake-and-bake juke move haha…. SIGN ME UP … I’ll FREEZE all opponents in their tracks haha…

We got to the clue box and were told to go Peel street to look for our next clue. We were lucky to run back through the rugby practice and catch our taxi before it left. It would have been a real inconvenience to go back to the bottom of the hill to find another taxi. We knew exactly where to go and the fastest route to get there. The traffic can be horrendous and bumper to bumper if you take the wrong tunnel to cross from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. We found the clue box quickly and it was Detour… ( Cue Alan walking and talking… A detour is a choice between two tasks each with it’s own pros and cons...)

Get Lucky or Get Fishy! We decided to Get Lucky and crunch through 300 fortune cookies instead of scaling fish. Who wants to scale fish…??? Not fun!!!

We had to read out every fortune that we came across and look for the “right: clue… We crunched through 290 of those suckers before finding the right one ..ARGH !!!

Roadblock

We had to cross back to Kowloon side taking the Star Ferry and then go to Ladies Market to search for the next clue.

When we got there it was a Roadblock. Who’s got an eye for the Ladies? We figure that it wasn’t a “physical” task so Sam volunteered to do it.

The problem was that he had pick a handbag from the selection we were given and search the market for a person with the exact same handbag. He’s “vertically challenged” haha and so I was worried that it would be difficult to scan across the whole area..haha. But luckily we was patient and able to eventually find the match.

Pit-stop

We had to make our way to Blake Pier in Stanley Bay. Now … I’m from Hong Kong but I never call Stanley…. “Stanley Bay” …. And had no idea where Blake Pier was… So I wanted to make sure where we were going to the right place… there are so many “Bays” in Hong Kong with similar names so I actually had to look at one of those tourist maps to make sure we were going to the right place…Luckily we picked up a few at the airport and sure enough.. what I know of as just “Stanley…. is the same as Stanley Bay”

1st on our Home Turf!!!!

We live to see another week… GO TEAM HONG KONG!!!

VMC

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Sony commercial

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2008 9:55AM / Standard Entry

Some behind the scenes shots of the Sony Commercial that we shot in September. I saw it for the first time yesterday. It was supposed to be a 2 day shoot but we squeezed it into one SUPER LONG DAY... but it was worth it cause then it allowed us more free time to hang out in Singapore! I'll try to get a copy of it and post it haha...

I can add "Hand Model" to my CV haha...

... supper Singaporean Style after a long day of shooting ... with Hokkien Mee and Nasi Lemak!

A lot of people have commented that the commercial means something... but the truth of it is that the Sony people picked the teams based on different criteria... as well when talking to them they have no idea what happens and are glued to the TV every week, also there will be other teams doing different things...I'm sure...just keep your eyes out for them !!

Wishful thinking y'all !!! HAHA !!!!

VMC

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We're Number 1...We're Number 1 !!!

Sunday, Oct 12, 2008 11:15PM / Standard Entry

1st at this pit stop...Go Team HK …!!!

Sony Style Store

We had to go to the Sony Store inside Sogo department store in Taipei to get our next clue. Our task at the store was to search through thousands of Blu-ray discs for the “Correct” disc. We used the Sony Blu-ray disc player to play the discs onto the Bravia screen to see if found the correct disc. Sam and I decided to systematically go through each disc from the first shelf instead of randomly picking discs. We were extremely lucky and within the fifteen minutes we found the Correct disc. ( Actually the disc didn’t read properly the first time we inserted it into the machine and we were about to discard it but decided to give it another chance…. Damn luckily we did!!! )

Fast Forward…Pit Stop

When we opened the clue we saw the green fast forward envelope so we decided to give it a go… We had no idea what our task was… so when we got there we were a little shocked to see that in order to receive the fast forward we had to get tattoos!! Hmm well I’ve always thought about getting a tattoo but just never got around to it… So I was excited…what better way to remember my experience on the Race haha… we were told that the tattoo shop (Kevin’s Tattoos)

was owned by the “tattoo king” of Taipei haha .. (in fact his wife inked me).

I think Sam had some reservations but after thinking about it he was OK with it too… We had to pick the design from a book and I decided to go with a Dragon and Sam picked a Celtic symbol. The actual tattooing took about half an hour and then we were on our way to the pit stop at the Astronomical Museum.

We were lucky to have gone for the fast forward because when talking to the other teams afterward and now from watching everything that they went through … man I would not want to do their tasks haha! Henry told us that the coal mine task was CRAZY …. The coal mine itself was hard to find and the task was so physically demanding … looking for a souvenir in a huge cart of coal NO THANKS especially after our experience with looking for “IT” the day before ( side note when were leaving the tattoo shop… we saw AD and Fuzzy running around that area so I think that they were thinking on possibly going for the Fast Forward …that’s why they got to the coal mine after Bernie and Henry) …and after that, the detour of picking up those bears in the arcade machine or transporting water up the stairs? HAHA .. NO WAY…

Team HK #1 for now… tune in to AXN Thursday night to see what happens next.

After watching last episode I had some thoughts…..

After watching myself on TV without my shirt on …I thought " man I REALLY need to hit the gym" haha.. any gyms wanna sponsor me ??
Alan Wu you better watch out ... I'm gonna give you a run for your money HAHAHA

Most people ask me how the tattooing felt…the way I would describe it would be someone digging their nails into you!!! … actually… I kinda want another one now… people say that they’re addictive … hmm what do you think I should get and where should I put it?

…any tattoo artists out there…?

VMC

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