layne67

So, after 12 exciting and gruelling episodes, The Amazing Race Asia, the first season of hopefully many more, is coming to an end with the finale tomorrow. And I'm so happy and proud that two of the three teams racing in the finals are from Malaysia.

Andrew and his girlfriend, Syeon. She's so very pretty that I think she had most of the males watching the race cursing Andrew, heheh. And I loved it when Andrew carried her piggy-back when her injured foot couldn't take it anymore. So romantic ... But don't let that delicate exterior fool you. There's a will of steel and a determination to win there. Her brains and Andrew's brawns will bear them in good stead in becoming the first winner of TAR Asia.

Zabrina and JoeJer, my favourites right from the very beginning. They had me quivering into nervous ball of goo each time they came in last. These two will make history if they win TAR Asia because if they do, they will be the first all-girl-team to win The Amazing Race albeit an Asian editon one. They have the brains, both of them ( not that I'm implying that Andrew doesn't ) but they'll be in trouble if any of the tasks in the final episode requires physical strength. Omg, that episode in Dubai where they carried those HUGE packs up the snow-covered slope. Snow in Dubai?, I hear you saying incredulously. It's in an ultra-modern shopping mall actually and the snow-themed park looked real enough it made me think that they were in Japan or Korea when they showed the teasers to that particular episode. Anyway, as I was saying, I think they made a mistake when they chose that task over the hacking one. Luckily the M&M chose that task, too, otherwise they could have been eliminated there. So yes, I want these girls to win but I don't think they will. Time will tell.

And lastly, Sandy and Fran, the team representing Hong Kong. Not to be taken lightly, these two can certainly give Andrew & Syeon and Zab & JoeJer a run for their money. Whoa, just look at Sandy's biceps. Andrew would look right down skinny standing next to him :D And Fran looks a lot like Asha Gil, the lovely host of 'Lonely Planet Six Degrees', right down to the way she talks and laughs. That's neither here nor there I suppose, but I adore Asha and by default, Fran is there in my list of favourite racers :) As for Sandy, he would simply plough through the strength-requiring tasks. The other two teams would have an uphill job if their last task were to involve anything that needs heaving or hacking or hewing. You get the idea.

All in all, the Asian Edition of TAR has lived up to expectations, and more. I have to admit that I had my trepidations when I first heard about it. I mean, the main pull of TAR for me is the interactions between the two members in each team and I love the shouting-matches ( Jonathan and Victoria omg ), the banters - loving or otherwise, the devotion ... ( Kris and Jon, soooo sweet ) and well, Asians are -- restrained, for want of a better word. And a quiet TAR where the racers just sit there looking blankly at each other, or worse, saying something contrite and contrived *shudders*

But TAR Asia rocks, and kudos to AXN for producing this wonderful show and to Allan Wu for a job well-done. There were some minor hitches, and comparisons to the original TAR are inevitable. For instance, there were not much airport dramas, other than in one episode when Zab & JoeJer almost didn’t get to board the same flight as the others. I suppose that was because AirAsia being one of the main sponsors , the racers need not trouble themselves to get tickets from the other airlines.

Then there were the racers themselves which IMO are made up of an exclusively hip and urban part of the Asian population, unlike the original TAR in which they have contestants from all walks of life. Nothing wrong with that, and I suppose it was quite unavoidable because they’d need people who can speak English well, English being the Common Speech here. So I guess we wont get to see any, say, padi farmers or miners competing in the race *shrugs*

And lastly, there were not so many “fights” and “bad-mouthings” except for Andy & Laura which unfortunately had been tagged as the bad guys (?). But oh boy, did I enjoy Andy’s antics and that “No Way Yes Way” encounter with the police officer in New Zealand was absolutely priceless.

Btw, Allan, don't worry, I didn't even notice the long pauses after some time and guess what, I even stopped comparing you to Phil after the third episode.

I do hope there will be many more TAR Asia. And maybe AXN will get Phil to guest-host one or two episodes! Who knows, I might even manage to persuade the husband to go for the audition - though I doubt we will even get through the first part ( of the auditions that is, not the Race, *grins* )

Good luck, Andrew & Syeon, Zab & JoeJer and Sandy & Fran. All of you have an even chance to win this, despite what I said earlier. I've heard rumours that the last leg would be in Malaysia. An advantage to the Malaysian teams certainly but then neither won the first leg in KL, so you never know. It all comes down to Luck basically.

And to those teams that have been eliminated, especialliy Howard & Sahran and Mardi & Marsio, a big Thank You for a very entertaining and well-ran race. Looking forward to seeing you all again at the final pit-stop!