Author Topic: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)  (Read 22515 times)

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Offline Neobie

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TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« on: August 04, 2008, 07:02:40 PM »
Sam Wu, with roots in Singapore; with Vince Chung, with roots in Canada.



Found Vince's blog: http://www.alivenotdead.com/vinniemc/blog.html
"I [heart] HK", "time to kick @ss", eh?

Offline puddin

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2008, 11:55:53 PM »



Both started out as teachers but in their spare time, one is a master of words while the other is plays with words. Meet Vince Matthew Chung, the former primary school teacher turned full time comedian cum host, and his best bud Samuel Wu, a university lecturer who ranks as one of the top players on the online word game, Prolific.

For those wondering, Prolific is a word puzzle much like the classic Boggle game and yes, this shows how quick thinking the duo, who make up Team Hong Kong, can be. Having met three years ago while working in Hong Kong, the 32-year-olds became fast friends due to similar passions in a variety of things, from acting, hosting, stand-up comedy, and most importantly, partying.

They actually met via mutual friends at a party and things since then have been a blast. Recalls Vince jokingly, Sam "wouldn't leave the area where the food was being served."

This also will not be the first time that the friends have participated in a competitive event together. Vince once made it as a finalist in the first ever nationwide stand-up comedy competition, "The Funniest Person in Hong Kong", and if you hear Sam tell the story, the jokes were all Sam's. "I was very proud of him," enthuses Sam. "They were all my jokes of course, but he denies it vehemently."

One thing that does stand in their way though is their hot headed nature, which has led to confrontations. Sam too has to deal with physical fears as he is terrified of needles and bees.
He says, "I was hospitalized after getting stung in the head by a hornet when I was four and since then, I've had a major phobia and if anything flies near or around my head, I freeze instantly."

This is why Sam reckons that Vince is the more physical one, whereas he is the thinking part of the group. And what is their overall strategy? Sam says it is to, "always be part of the pack, and then break away to lead the pack in the middle legs of the race".

But what if it doesn't work? Vince jokes, "I want to bring banana peels to throw onto the ground so that teams running behind us will slip on them."

Yes, Vince is the more competitive of the duo, but it's because being on top is in his blood. Vince has also joined various sports teams, from softball, baseball to football throughout his life and swam competitively from age six to university.

Don't dismiss Sam either as he too can be single minded in his endeavors. Back in 2001, a desire to lose some weight made Sam go on a diet that saw him shed 20kg over a five month period. "I went from an obese 80kg to a 60kg, through rigorous exercising and dieting," he recalls.

The one thing the duo will do however, is to soak up every experience on this race because this could be their last hoorah, since Vince might be leaving Hong Kong in the near future. You might say they have nothing to lose, but everything to strive for.


http://amazing-race-asia.axn-asia.com/season3/teams/sam-vince/index.html
« Last Edit: August 10, 2008, 06:14:52 PM by puddin »


Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2008, 09:37:59 PM »
 :hearts:

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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2008, 10:34:17 AM »
They have a new picture! I like it much better...

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Offline banzai

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2008, 02:00:51 PM »
<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k2YCREToDmd067LPl3&amp;related=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k2YCREToDmd067LPl3&amp;related=1</a>

http://www.caltex.com/amazingraceasia/taraSeason3_videos.asp?vid=2
from Caltex.


Offline TARAsia Fan

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2008, 03:25:47 PM »
Thanks for getting these, banzai.  :tup: :tup: :yourock: :yourock:
Just here to visit.

Offline Alan

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2008, 09:15:33 AM »
Kudos to them for being very interactive with fans on Facebook. I believe they will be more popular as the show goes on.

Here is what Sam Wu had to say about Ep4:

As Ep 4 revealed, the first 5 teams to the placemat for Hue (ep 3) were actually very close to each other. We were mere minutes away from each other. And so, when we started off, we were all able to work together to get air tickets to Taipei. When we arrived at the airport, we were surprised it was closed. All teams except Ida and Tania wanted to save money... we could've taken a taxi back to the hotel lobby to rest (like they did), but Taipei is an expensive city, and we were given less than US$40 for the entire leg!! We had no idea what we needed to do in Taipei, so we decided to tough out the 6-hour wait and save the money.

At the airport, Mai & Oliver started bonding with us... we never had an opportunity to talk to them much throughout the first 3 legs due to our different placings and timings. We were never at the same place at the same time, and this was the very first time, and it was nice bonding with them.

Thus, when Mai approached us to collaborate with us, we were quite willing to do so. I mean, working with other teams to solve "needle in a haystack" tasks have been successful, based on our experience. So, when we found out eventually (during the tofu challenge) that they took off after finding the clue first, even saying that they were going to do the other task, it was disappointing, and it made it harder to accept that they would do this to us. I have to admit.

Having said that, we could understand why they did that. I mean, it was a race, and they wanted to win no matter what it took. That was their race strategy, which was okay. We had a different mantra from theirs: our race mottos, Vince and I, were - 1) play a clean, fair game, and 2) enjoy ourselves no matter what - laugh thru the pain. Maybe it's not always shown that we are completely loving the experience (even though we keep declaring it in our interviews), but I think it is clear to audiences and other teams present that we believed in racing a race that we were proud of, without having to compromise on our principles... be a trustworthy team that raced hard and smart (well, as much as possible! lol). We were, after all, not just representing ourselves, but our friends, families, HK and most importantly, God.

Don't get me wrong. Mai and Oliver are still our friends, and we are dying to see them again! In fact, we did not harbour any ill feeling towards them even when we saw them, and we wished them well. We were just 2 teams with differing race strategies. But it was good we knew about their strategy early on in the game. And it was unfortunate for Mai & Oliver, because of their early reveal about their race strategy, the other teams knew about what they did, and it would be hard for Mai & Oliver to regain trust from the other teams.

Now - many have asked me about my inadvertent yell of exasperation when i finally found that damn miniature clue. hahahaha! yeah.... audience may have some idea that we were in there for a long time, and the 4 teams there (that's 8 people btw) were walking around hopelessly trying to find the elusive "IT". So, once i saw how blind and stupid we were for walking past it countless time, I gave the eureka cry, which i regretted. ALL the teams heard it and they were there in SECONDS.

Of course, everyone had a good laugh, and the other teams thanked me for my accidental "yelp". hahaha! I had no time to be angry at myself for my own foolishness. I shook it off, and it was time for Braille challenge.

We got lost on the way to Shenkeng!!! Vince refused to allow me to get a cab to lead us there cos he wanted to save money. So I had to run out of the car every other part of the way to ask for directions!! WASTE OF TIME!!! When we finally got there, we had no idea that Ida and Tania and Oliver and Mai had finished. It was just Henry and Bernie. Vince and I developed a system to describe the dots and position, so we breezed through it very quickly - apparently, we were one of the fastest teams. And the bonus was - we got to present that cheque to the School of the Blind.

And finally, as you saw, we arrived at stinky tofu with Ida crying and barfing, and Ollie barfing too. I'm really glad that Vince did this roadblock because he has a larger stomach than me. Meaning, he can scarf down much more things than me... I'm smaller-built, so my appetite is smaller than Vince's. Our pre-race strategy was for Vince to do all the eating challenges because he could complete it faster than me. So, thank God, it was the right person for the Roadblock. KUDOS TO VINCE for completing it so quickly!! As you could see, Ida and Oliver were more than halfway through, but Vince made up for the lost time very quickly.

It was 3 teams racing towards the pitstop - we left that place 3rd, after Ida & Tans, and Ollie and Mai. We were getting horribly lost cos we missed the exits at the highway, so thank God we found a local and convinced him to come with us to bring us to the pitstop. We were convinced that we would be 3rd, so when Allan told us we were 2nd, I was completely surprised and happy. You don't see the surprise and elation on our faces BECAUSE WE WERE SO FREAKIN' TIRED!!! It was waaaay past 2 in the morning by the time we hit the pitstop. and kudos to Ida and Tania for coming in first. You rock, ladies!!! We love them.

TARA 3 was quickly shaping up to live up to its tagline of "TOUGHEST RACE EVER". The remaining 6 teams were starting to feel the effects of being pushed so hard, physically, mentally and emotionally. A lot of times, you don't really feel it's tough if you're just sitting at home watching us do these tasks. But the reality is - everyone is tired from all the travelling, and with fewer teams left in the race, the pressure was on to stay in the lead. It truly was not easy.

Vince and I have been in the top 3 for the last 3 legs, and twice coming in second place. The other teams are now seeing our strengths as a team, and every team is now kicking it up a notch. The race is now and truly ON.

What will happen next week? Stay tuned.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2008, 04:59:10 AM by Alan »

Offline apskip

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2008, 07:47:53 AM »
Alan, thank you for providing the insights that this article by Sam Wu offers. This is real inside stuff that helps us understand what one team was thinking as they went about episode 4 and what other teams were doing then.

Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2008, 02:06:52 PM »
Episode 4

We live another week …  HK HK HK

Fly to Taipei Taiwan

Taiwan here we come….. ohh baby I LOVE TAIWAN…. “ Hao Bung”   Wo Ai Tai Mei …..hahaha… all teams flew to Taiwan on the same flight from Hue.  It was a long journey because we had to connect via Ho Chi Minh.  When we got there we had to drive ourselves to look for the clue at the Red Pavilion.  I drove because I’m used to driving on the left hand side anyway originally being from Canada and all... The roads were confusing but luckily Sam knew how to speak Mandarin so if we got lost we could ask for directions..

Detour

The clue at the Red Pavilion was a detour.  Shoot or Shape   We decided to “shoot” because we didn’t know how difficult the Tangrams puzzle was going to be and the  market was quite far.  We got lost on the way to the miniature museum… even though Sam spoke Mandarin… the roads and VERY confusing… and not easy to navigate.  When we finally got there we had no idea what we had to look for.  We had to look for “IT” and that was frustrating.  We decided to team up with  Geoff and Tish and Oliver and Mai to look for the clue.  We were all searching back and forth many times.  We were there for hours  … and none of us could find it. After awhile … Mai and Oliver told us that they were going to try the other task…. But little did we know that they actually found it and then … took off…. GRRRR….   
We were actually going to  quit too but we continued to search around the whole place when suddenly I hear.. “ AHHHH”  and with that all the teams converged like Bees to Honey and found IT… Sam was tired and frustrated and when he saw the clue he just reacted… AIYA… We had been there so long but all the teams caught up with us…

School for the Blind 

When we printed out the clue and it told us to go to the School for the Blind to translate a  phrase using Braille.  In the car Sam was upset with himself because he had given away the clue to the others but I told him to shake it off.  I had made a similar mistake the leg before so I knew how he was feeling.  No one wants to let their team down… we’ll just have to learn from our mistakes.  We got lost on the way to the School for the Blind and by the time that we got there Mai and Oliver and Tania and Ida had left.  Bernie and Henry were working away at their task but  were having communcation problems.  We worked very fast and we were able to translate the message quickly.  As an added honour we presented the school with a cheque from Standard Charter Bank.

Stinky Tofu

Our clue directed us to go to the  old street in another district Shen-keng in Taiwan… it was quite late and we had not eaten so we grabbed some food from good ol’ 7-11 … man … do they have quite a cool selection of bites in Taiwan….
When we got there the clue said “ Who NOSE a good challenge when they smell one……”  I decided to do it because I thought that I have quite a good sense of smell… but little know that I would have to FINISH A HUGE BOWL OF STINKY TOFU  WITH ALL THE FIXINGS AND THE SOUP…. I had just eaten too... AIYA
Yes it was stinky, the soup was vinegary and there was a lot of it.  Ida was crying while eating and Oliver was having trouble too… I didn’t like it but I just toughed it out and ate as fast as I could.
I had to plug my ears because both of them were barfing and the sounds were making me want to barf.   I finished the bowl quickly but Ida and Oliver started much earlier and had finished before me.

Pit Stop

Our next clue directed us to the pit stop at City Hall.  We got into our car and peeled outta there… but again we got lost.  Sam wanted pay a taxi to escort us but I wanted to save money and work through it because we were able to communicate with the local people.  However we missed our exits a few times and had to double back and forth again.  We ended up stopping at a petrol station and convinced this dude to accompany us and direct us to the right spot. We gave him money to take a taxi back.  We parked the car at the designated place and searched the square for Alan. We were very surprised when we placed 2nd because we had circled around lost for at least an hour and there were at least two teams that had left the tofu place before us.
TEAM HK 2nd place …  tune in to AXN next Thursday to see what happens next!!

alivenotdead.com/vincechung






Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2008, 04:00:21 AM »
A quick note about our tattoos

Hey all,
I was going to write a note about the ep a little later, but I thought I'd just write something about our tattoos first.

First up, I just wanted to thank people for their well-wishes, and we share your excitement and joy in us reaching the first place.

2nd, i had mentioned that it was against my beliefs - personal and religious - to get a tattoo. I mean, I've never ever had one, and never wanted to get one. I have nothing against tattoos - I've loads of friends with tats; it was a personal choice. I'm a Christian, so from young, I've always been ingrained with the idea that our body is the temple of God, and that we shouldn't defile it. I've always taken this teaching very literally, so I've no body piercings, or anything like that. Of course, I'm not a Christian fanatic, and that was something I felt when I was younger. I don't want people to debate about this. I haven't gotten a tattoo previously primarily because of a personal choice, and I'm SCARED OF THE NEEDLE!!! (i've never even donated blood before!) It's really more because of these reasons.

But this being a race, Vince and I spoke about it (Vince is Christian too), and we felt that it wasn't going to be a religious thing (because in the Bible, God never said you can't get a tattoo), so it was a matter of interpretation. So, it boiled down to whether I could overcome my mental hesitation. I decided that this was THE AMAZING RACE ASIA, and this is a once in a life-time thing, so I sucked it up, and decided to go for the tattoo.

I hope fans can understand this.

The tattoo hurt, and for the subsequent leg (Leg 6), there was a nagging pain in our backs due to the fresh tats.

Meanwhile, people have asked if the tat is still there. YES IT IS. =) It was hard keeping it from friends, and one or two of them (PAM!!! THAT'S YOU!) did notice I had a tattoo, and they were like "Sam!! You had a tattoo?! Since when!", and of course I had to create a stupid story to explain it. Now, they know... lol

Will post the pictures of our tats in due time. And yes, Vince's tattoo is nicer than mine. BAH!!! ;)

(Sam's facebook)
« Last Edit: October 10, 2008, 08:30:19 AM by snap-on »


Offline Alan

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2008, 05:13:21 AM »
Many thanks snap-on. :tup:

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2008, 07:39:05 AM »
 :hearts: :hearts: :hearts:

Thanks for the news!!
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Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2008, 12:21:11 PM »
look who's here  :duno:

facebook.com/pages/Sam-and-Vince-Amazing-Racers-Team-HK/78788000233#/album.php?aid=166435&id=78788000233&ref=mf
« Last Edit: October 12, 2008, 12:35:59 PM by snap-on »

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2008, 12:25:59 PM »
Can you fill us in on the LINK and the context please? :)
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Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2008, 12:31:47 PM »
We're Number 1...We're Number 1 !!!

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 

alivenotdead.com/vincechung


« Last Edit: October 27, 2008, 12:25:35 PM by snap-on »

Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2008, 04:38:33 AM »
hey all,

so we live to see another week.
TARA 3 went to HK, and we were really stoked. It wasn't so much about home advantage, but it was more the fact of coming "home". We had been racing continuously for almost 2 weeks, and while you do get caught up with the fun and adrenaline, you do wonder what's going on at home!

So, it was nice to go to HK. And yes, even though we were ahead due to our FF the previous leg, we definitely didn't want to be complacent. We had raced long enough to know about equalizers, and there can be one at anytime... like, becos of Hours of Operations or something. So, Vince and I always race like we're last, and give it our all... so far, our all has been sufficient. But it surely wasn't easy with fresh tattoos on our shoulder blades. It was uncomfortable because our bag straps kept pressing onto our tatts... if anyone says getting a tattoo is no big deal, try getting one then having to do something really physical... I was concerned about my tattoo getting infected as we were sweaty all the time! hahaha!

With 5 teams left, the pressure suddenly intensified... it wasn't enough staying middle of the pack because that meant being last now. So, every team was trying to be top 3 because it gives you a pyschological edge.

Thus far, we have gotten along very well with all remaining teams. And as you've seen, some teams are closer to each other, but Vince and I were like the Switzerland team... we were very neutral and didn't wanna side with the majority groups by ostracising Geoff & Tish. Don't get me wrong - we enjoyed hanging out with the SEAsian groups - they were super fun! But we enjoyed hanging out with Geoff & Tish too. Tish is super sweet (and smart - lethal combination), and Geoff is a funny joker although I can understand why his jokes might rub the other teams the wrong way. If you meet Geoff, ask him to show you his dance moves...

Finally, regarding the fortune cookie, yes... i made up the confucius saying "Confucius says - if you sleep with an itchy backside, you wake up with a smelly finger"! hahahaha! Was just being jokey and cheeky!

And yes... there'll be thick tension in the air in Leg 7, as you've seen in the preview trailers. What's gonna happen? Stay tuned...!!

Sam's facebook

Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #16 on: October 22, 2008, 04:26:54 AM »
Episode 6

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. 

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!!!

alivenotdead.com/vincechung


Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2008, 01:37:17 AM »
Notes on Leg 7

Leg 7 was a doozy!! The weather definitely wrecked havoc on the tasks and the team standings, for sure, and while yes, the camera doesn't lie, there was still a context and back-story that the camera does not provide.

1. Who were our direct competitors? Well, at that point in time, they were teams which were physically the strongest. However, we eventually chose not to yield anyone because we didn't have the heart to do so cos we liked all teams (not no guts). And more importantly, we knew we were ahead, and we were not racing neck-to-neck. Strategy-wise, we surmised that we didn't NEED to yield anyone, so why start now? IF we reached the Yield post 2nd place, or if we were racing neck-to-neck with another team to reach the yield post, then that is a very different story.

2. Did we collaborate with Geoff & Tish to yield Bernie & Henry? No. There was no discussion before-hand, and if you see, even Geoff & Tish wondered if WE would yield THEM. lol. So, no...

3. 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.

4. Hence, no, we don't dislike Bernie & Henry! We switched their tags because we really like them, and wanted to play pranks on them! =) In fact, they even asked us if WE were the ones who swopped their tags, because it's in our nature to joke around, and do silly pranks like this. So, Bernie & Henry knew it was only a joke! And because we really do like Bernie & Henry, it hurts that my reaction (high-five and smiles) on camera can be miscontrued, and more importantly, that Bernie & Henry might think we were in cahoots with Geoff & Tish or that I gloated in their misfortune. I can categorically say I didn't, despite what you see.

5. Finally, we REALLY REALLY do like all remaining teams, regardless of alliances or whatever. Meaning, regardless if one belongs to a certain camp, or clique, or if we belong to a group, Vince and I will still be friendly with teams. We were close to the SEA teams, for sure, but we were also definitely friends with Geoff & Tish. And because we were in the middle, I found it hard sometimes when one side didn't like another side. I'm sure some of you may have been in this position before. How would you feel if one group of your friends didn't like another group, or if they fought? However, one thing was clear - despite teams being friends, when it boiled down to the crunch, all teams were able to put respect and friendships aside and race hard.

7. Zodiac signs. I only knew 4-5 of them in sequence, so even though we only took 2 tries, it wasn't fast enough as G&T had been there earlier and tried more combinations before-hand. We were, again, minutes behind. Thus far, we call Leg 3 (Hue) and Leg 7 (Macau) as the ones that got away!! hahaha! Achingly, painfully close!!!!

8. We are feeling the heat with more teams being whittled down. It has been extremely fun despite the toughness, and now we need to balance the fun with strategy. i.e. race hard and fun but smart.

9. Leg 8 will be tough. Watch for it.

(Sam's fb)

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2008, 02:13:12 AM »
Thanks snap-on! These are so wonderful to read!!
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Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2008, 09:38:51 AM »
On The Amazing Race Asia 2, we have seen Colin & Adrian on Sony commercial before the season ended, and finally they won. Now we have seen Sam & Vince on the Sony commercial too. Does history repeats itself  :duno:
« Last Edit: October 27, 2008, 09:55:21 AM by snap-on »


Offline brandoko

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2008, 09:56:00 AM »
I think it's safe to speculate that they won.  Why would Sony choose a non-winning team to endorse its product? 

Offline apskip

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2008, 10:01:34 AM »
And I think that inferences from commercials are highly speculative. The top teams in this competition are right now Bernie/Henry and Geoff/Tisha. I would rate Vince and Sam third so they should make the Final 3. They will be at a disadvantage to Bernie/Henry and Geoff/Tisha if all are in the final leg.

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #22 on: October 27, 2008, 10:06:41 AM »
Sure would like to see the commercial!  :angel:
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Offline snap-on

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2008, 12:35:35 PM »
sony commercial. pics was taken from S&V's fb  :puter:
« Last Edit: October 27, 2008, 12:39:24 PM by snap-on »

Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)
« Reply #24 on: October 27, 2008, 01:41:36 PM »
Oh doesn't that look like fun! Now I really want to see the commercial, lol!

Thanks so much for sharing snap-on! :hearts:
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