Topic: TARA 3 Episode 1 Discussion Thread **HOT spoilers--WILL contain show spoilers**

[georgiapeach]

This thread is for discussion of Episode 1 and can be posted in immediately AFTER the show has aired at AXN, based on Singapore time. That will be Thusday 9/11 at 10PM Singapore time, or Thursday at 10AM EST for those of us in the US.

Please read the posting guidelines HERE    BEFORE you post in this thread please.

Those who will have not seen the show yet will need to ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! There will be spoilers about who won, and who was eliminated for sure, and other details about the leg.



Thanks to tele_tubby at AXN for sending me this:

[banzai]

Wiki is up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Race_Asia_3

Henry & Bernie is in 3rd place. 
Natalie & Pailin survive. 

[beyonddbreak]

well ep 1 just finished.. im new to this site, checking all the great spoilers you guys found & also to see the placement orders coz even though im from asia our cable is off tonight so i have to resource to the internet & just watch a rerun once our cable's back, but anyway, i saw onm wikipedia they have the placements so ill just copy it if its ok :sucks

Here are the results of Leg 1:

Mai & Oliver  1st                                  

Geoff & Tisha     2nd        TEAM PH ftw!                           

Henry & Bernie  3rd                                  

Natalie & Pailin  4th  (they're not out!)                                                     

William & Isaac  6th                                   

Ida & Tania  5th                                  

Sam & Vince 7th                                  

A.D. & Fuzzie    8th                            

Niroo & Kapil    9th                                  

Neena & Amit  10th-ELIMINATED

IDK wether William&Isaac & Ida&Tania were really 6th & 5th becoz on wikipedia W/I appeared before I/T on the list so th eithey coulder change places..guess'll have to wait till we really get to watch ep1..

[georgiapeach]

Thank you SOOOO much! I have been trying to get into the AXN site for ages but guess the server is overloaded... 

Very interesting!

And to RFF--hope you'll stay and play!

[banzai]

I can't log in to AXN either.
Happy that Natalie and Pailin survive. 

[georgiapeach]

Thank you banzai!!  

Me too! Natalie/Pailin's videos were delightful and I am SO glad the spoiler stuff was wrong...it will be charming to see more of them!

At least we know the "only 9 teams start leg 2" was  correct! 

But I am dancing with impatience here to hear more about the leg itself!

[banzai]

Chateau did a great job with Mai & Oliver and Bernie & Henry placements. 

[beyonddbreak]

Thank you SOOOO much! I have been trying to get into the AXN site for ages but guess the server is overloaded... 

Very interesting!

And to RFF--hope you'll stay and play!

NP, im glad to finally join this site as well & be any help i can give

too bad i cant really give out details this time becoz of my cable problems.. i even went home early so i wont miss TARA3 but it was darn frustrating to find out i cant watch it! .. hopefully next time there'd be no problems so i can share some early infos on what happened (of course on spoiler-okay zones only )

[georgiapeach]

Chateau is the BEST!!  

Couldn't manage w/out him!

Ohhhhh!! Just saw that Natalie/Pailin are 4th!! Good for them!! 

Hope they are having a good laugh at all the spoilers that had them out first!

[banzai]

The cash prize is $2500 each. In TAR7, the cash prize was $10000 each. Not bad. 

[Alan]

It lives up to the tag " The toughest race ever."

First the teams ate a big full bowl of insects, then they were made to wash a big bus. The detour choice of making rice was difficult too.

Some episode pointers:

-Mai/Oliver and Geoff/Tisha were neck and neck to the finishing line and decided by paper, scissors and stone which Mai won for her team.

-Mai contemplated quitting the race after winning 1st place. Oliver not happy at all. They had an argument.

-Pailin is definitely the driving force behind the BQs.

-Paula Taylor from TARA2 appeared as a greeter.

-Sam and Vince were due to check-in 4th position but had to go back to pay their taxi driver and ended in 7th.

Correction:In 5th position.

-Next week is a 90 min show.

[georgiapeach]

NP, im glad to finally join this site as well & be any help i can give

too bad i cant really give out details this time becoz of my cable problems.. i even went home early so i wont miss TARA3 but it was darn frustrating to find out i cant watch it! .. hopefully next time there'd be no problems so i can share some early infos on what happened (of course on spoiler-okay zones only )

We are glad to have you! Heee...if I win the lottery I am so flying to Asia every week so I can see it myself!

We'll have an Episode thread every week where we can talk about it immediately, so stay tuned!

[georgiapeach]

jonnal is here!! 

What was the second detour? And off road racing was the Roadblock?

[Alan]

jonnal is here!! 

What was the second detour? And off road racing was the Roadblock?

The off road racing was actually the other detour choice. No roadblock.

[banzai]

There was a spoiler and Natalie said that she did better than the alpha male teams.
Well, she did.   :sucks

[georgiapeach]

And what did they look for in the dark? Was it public or chartered bus to Chiang Mai?

So no rice harvesting?

[beyonddbreak]

NP, im glad to finally join this site as well & be any help i can give

too bad i cant really give out details this time becoz of my cable problems.. i even went home early so i wont miss TARA3 but it was darn frustrating to find out i cant watch it! .. hopefully next time there'd be no problems so i can share some early infos on what happened (of course on spoiler-okay zones only )

We are glad to have you! Heee...if I win the lottery I am so flying to Asia every week so I can see it myself!

We'll have an Episode thread every week where we can talk about it immediately, so stay tuned!

i definitely will! ill post first thing next ep! now ill just have to watch a re-run of ep1 hopefully tomorrow..

[Alan]

There was a spoiler and Natalie said that she did better than the alpha male teams.
Well, she did.   :sucks

I may sound critical but she was more concerned it appeared about her looks than getting the job done. Pailin was the one who did very well, in my honest opinion. Many more episodes to go though.

[banzai]

If Paula is a greeter, then we want to see Phil in New Zealand too. 

[Alan]

And what did they look for in the dark? Was it public or chartered bus to Chiang Mai?

So no rice harvesting?

Yeah they looked for the clue in dark among buddha statues for the next bus to Chiang Mai. It was chartered. They actually came using the same buses from Khao San road. The 3rd bus to Chiang Mai carried 7 teams.

Correction:The bus washing place at Caltex where they signed up to go to the buddha place

[banzai]

So no rice harvesting?

No lawn mowing either. What are those machines then?  

[TARAsia Fan]

I love Paula!!!!

And next week is a 90 minute show??? Great stuff. 

[georgiapeach]

90 minutes next time!!  

They'll need it--next week should be a really fabulous episode if the spoilers are right!

No Phil this season.....  Or so Michael McKay said...

[georgiapeach]

And what did they look for in the dark? Was it public or chartered bus to Chiang Mai?

So no rice harvesting?

Yeah the looked for the clue in dark among buddha statues for the next bus to Chiang Mai. It was chartered. They actually came using the same buses from Khao San road. The 3rd bus to Chiang Mai carried 7 teams.

   We were right banzai! 

Now, about those yellow bags.....

Oooooh!! Is Mai going to be the FLO of the season?? Wanted to quit after one leg?? 

[Alan]

So no rice harvesting?

No lawn mowing either. What are those machines then?  

The race karts for the Race detour.

[georgiapeach]

I'm going to LOVE this, I can tell! 

All except I do NOT like to watch nasty eating....  or

[georgiapeach]

Was this going to the Caltex place? Was this for the bus washing or to get the chatered busses?

[banzai]

90 minutes sounds like a TBC to me.

[Alan]

Was this going to the Caltex place? Was this for the bus washing or to get the chatered busses?

Their cabbie didnt have enough fuel so they had to stop for it and Kapil was frustrated, it was on their way to the pitstop.

[georgiapeach]

90 minutes sounds like a TBC to me.

Could be! We have an extra day and have been guessing an extended pitstop but TBC could be possible.

I just kinda think they need some extra time...this next leg should have some really special scenery I think--I know I can't wait!

[Chateau d If]

Thanks for the nice words.  But the real test is going to be the departure times next episode.   

So Peach, how do I go about watching this if, you  know, I happen to decide to take a look?

[georgiapeach]

to Chateau! Good job!

We'll tune you in Chateau...we hope to have a way to see it but sometimes it takes us a day or so...but don't worry, you'll know as soon as I do! 

[Alan]

Detour:Race or Rice.

Race:Drive a off-road buggy on a 8km course.

Rice:Pound rice into paste and make into 2 rice balls.

Preview for next week:

Under the pressures of the race, an unlikeable hero appears and its probably Tisha.

Scene:Geoff and Tisha appear frustrated with each other.

Ida:"Spider black behind us, the evil spider man."

Henry and Bernie has a tiff.

Henry:"You shouted at me all the time."
Bernie:"I shouted at you because you were playing a fool."

Henry breaks down.

Teams crack under the pressure

Scene:Mai freaking out

Natalie:"This is just the worst thing that could happen to us in the race."

[TARAsia Fan]

Thanks for the nice words.  But the real test is going to be the departure times next episode.  

So Peach, how do I go about watching this if, you  know, I happen to decide to take a look?

I'm already hunting for sources. I'll let you know, Chateau.

[georgiapeach]

WOW! an unlikeable hero or an unlikely hero??

This is sounding like the toughest race ever---or else all those mactors just aren't so tough!

[Alan]

WOW! an unlikeable hero or an unlikely hero??

This is sounding like the toughest race ever---or else all those mactors just aren't so tough!

Unlikeable haha.

[georgiapeach]

Uh-oh...

[michael]

i like ikea

[topaz]

hi guys, did you noticed something on about a Thai girl next beside to Allan Wu when she'd greeted to those 10 teams at the pit stop?  Actually, she's Paula of the Team Thailand on TARA 2!  Am I right?!

[TARAsia Fan]

That has been mentioned already.

[TARAsia Fan]

Neena & Amit will be chatting live between noon and 1 p.m. Singapore time, 1-2 p.m. in HK and that would be 1 -2 a.m. ET here in the States. You can head over to TARA's Windows Spaces Live page and chat with them then.

[apskip]

Ken, that is not correct according to time zone maps. It did not sound right so I checked it. New York on EDT is currently 12 hours behind Singapore on SGT and Hong Kong according to my official source of such information http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/:

New York * Thu 7:22 PM
Hong Kong Fri 7:22 AM
Singapore Fri 7:22 AM

So, a noon live chat in Singapore will be midnight in New York and noon in Hong Kong.

[Neobie]

So far we're on the morning of Day Two, with departure times for Leg Two in the early evening. Does that get us into Ho Chi Minh City at the right time? (The previews did look like Vietnam to me...)

[georgiapeach]

Yes that's perfect....

Based on Chateau's times we can assume the first team arrived around 9ish AM. We know some teams (AD/Fuzzie and Geoff/Trish and another m/m team are seen at the airport on 5/22 at about 2 which would put them into Saigon in time to be seen at the Q-bar that night at 10ish.

Now...did some teams get an earlier flight out? Probably... But why would Geoff not be on that earlier flight? Could there be another Chiang MAi task to bunch them first? Maybe...

Apskip has some nice flights just upstream.

[TARAsia Fan]

Ken, that is not correct according to time zone maps. It did not sound right so I checked it. New York on EDT is currently 12 hours behind Singapore on SGT and Hong Kong according to my official source of such information http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/:

New York * Thu 7:22 PM
Hong Kong Fri 7:22 AM
Singapore Fri 7:22 AM

So, a noon live chat in Singapore will be midnight in New York and noon in Hong Kong.

ap,

I'm not going to get into another time zone argument with you. I was going on the time that was on the AXN website that the chat was at noon -1 SIN time and 1 - 2 p.m. HK time. Take it up with AXN.

[apskip]

AXN is not making any representations in this thread and cannot be held accountable unlike contributors to this thread! The time zone information is not subject to any different interpretation by AXN or by any individual. It is what it is.

However, one possible explanation is that there is a one hour chat for the Singapore audience and a separate one hour chat for the Hong Kong audience that indeed starts at 1am.

[TARAsia Fan]

If that's what you want to believe, more power to you.

[georgiapeach]

I think HK airs TARA one hour after Singapore? somebody sees it one hour later... 

Yep. HK at 10PM and Singapore at 9PM for when the show airs....

guys....

[georgiapeach]

While we are waiting for our own  really good looks--

Calvin has graciously agreed to let us link to his blog here:

http://calvinshub.com/2008/09/11/the-amazing-race-asia-3-episode-1/

He has a wonderfully detailed summary including:
A Bug’s Life

....
The first team to finish the task were brother and sister, Henry and Bernie, followed shortly by the Beauty Queens, Pailin and Natalie then by Geoff and Tisha. After a lot of puking, all teams finished with Niroo and Kapil, the father and son tandem being the last.
...
Read the clue!
...
After washing, teams must ride a bus right there at the station to Wat Pai Rong Hua. There are only three buses available and each bus will leave once three teams are already boarded (3rd bus will leave when the last 4 are done).

Not reading the instructions carefully, Oliver and Mai hailed a cab to get to their next destination. When they realized their mistake, they went back to the Caltex station only to find out that the first bus had already left with Henry and Bernie, Neena and Amit and the Beauty Queens.

Only a few minutes behind, Bus 2 carried Geoff and Natasha, Oliver and Mai and Ida and Tania.
...
Loads more!

[georgiapeach]

The latest from Michael Mckay:

 8 hours ago, Michael_McKay says:   

 
 I'm pleased everyone seems to enjoy episode one.
Those bugs! It was a real shock to the teams as we have started the first two series with a height challenge and I don't think anyone expected us to have an eating challenge off the top.

The buses were huge and hard work, especially as the teams thought they were probably going to wash cars, since the clue referred to them as "vehicles".

The Rice game was tough. It was hard work, really hot and there were lots of blisters. The Race detour was fun and a good choice for teams in my opinion. Teams will need to choose detours wisely this season or they will often pay a high price.

And the first two seasons were non-eliminations in the first Leg but not this year. No let off this time around.

Not a bad start but we turn up the heat next week. I've never seen so many bruises in a single Leg. A couple of bruised egos as well

Enjoy!

[georgiapeach]

AXN official recap and photos are up here:

http://amazing-race-asia.axn-asia.com/season3/race/

[Mrs Shrek]

I've just finished watching the episode, and it was great. There really was no let up for the contestants. I am surprised at how many teams chose to do the rice detour rather than the race one though. The race one sounded so much more fun, and so much easier, yet only a couple of teams actually switched.

[georgiapeach]

Still a little puzzled here as to why AD/Fuzzie AND Geoff/Tisha are both seen at the airport on 5/22 at the same time (2 ish).

Per apskip, there is no good late night flight out, and G/T could have gotten the early AM one.

UNLESS there is another task first.....

So maybe paintball here?

But those laundry or whatever baskets don't look like  flowershop to me either.

Is that Saigon? So we first have a day task.

Always assuming the spoiler is true, when do they go to the SW? They don't have to be in HUE until 5/25 so there IS an extra day...

[georgiapeach]

Thought this was interesting:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from duckie at AXN (nice job!):

22 mins ago, duckie says:   
 
 Neena Rai at 8:00pm September 12  i got it from her facebook=D   

Neena Rai:

well yes there was luck or "the taxi variable" as I call it.

And there was also the fact that we got lost on the buggy track because of a roadmarker that was missing. There was us and Fuzzy and Ad.
So we were looking everywhere.. ... Read Moreand then when we went backwards it was there..

we inquired about it later, and got to know that apparently some local guy had moved it around..eh??

But it is edited from the show.

 19 mins ago, duckie says:   
 
 How did it feel to be eliminated due to a VERY incompetent taxi driver?

Ans 3 - I felt horrible.. I mean Amit and I were the fear factor team of The Amazing Race. haha! LOL Both of us were very strong only next to Henry and Bernie (who in my opinion were super strong!). A lot of teams were very happy when we got out cus we were one of the biggest competitors!

Where were you sent upon elimination?

Ans 4 - were were sent to a resort.. its called sequester city. I cant reveal the place, sorry. I am bound by a 5 Million $ contract.

 
 18 mins ago, duckie says:   
 
 were you really that rude to the taxi driver or was it just a crappy edit?

Ans 2-I was not rude, I was tired of the taxi driver driving us around for 2 hours in Chang Mai after he claimed he knew where we were going.. I was annoyed and confronted him with his lies!

Yes, you can make me look rude with the 'crappy edits' because you did not see those 2 hours and the lies of the driver..He took us in opposite directions for more money or whatever.. god knows..

 
16 mins ago, duckie says:   
 

while you were sequestered who did you THINK would be eliminated next (just asking on your opinion on who you think came last next not the actual team let's not make you pay 5m lol) ?
Ans 4-umm... I was sure it would be another very strong team, because the underdog always wins the race.

And yes, one of the teams, I considered to be strong and intelligent, came next.

 
 
 

[apskip]

The highlight of this episode for me was the statement by chef Henry that he thought a fine accompaniment to the rice balls would be scorpion. How cheeky can you get? I should note that he and Bernie are my favorite team and they won big points with that classic line.

[TARAsia Fan]

I agree with Mrs Shrek that the buggies were faster and should have been taken by the teams instead of doing the rice ball, but in the midst of the race and after a very long bus ride, you're not thinking clearly. Definitely a case of killer fatigue coming early in the race.

Mai is a diva and to carry such a big backpack and make her partner carry it is ridiculous. Oliver was tired and then she wanted to quit. That's horrible.

I give credit to the Beauty Queens II (Dustin & Kandice are Beauty Queens I) for doing the rice and not really complaining (they might have complained, but we didn't see it).

I hope to get a full length episode to do a proper recap, but for now. I'm glad I was able to watch the episode.

Oh, and nice to see Paula as the greeter. Such a nice smile and so pretty. Her only drawback is her relationship with Mutt of Mutt & Revolting, but I can overlook that.

[georgiapeach]

Mai looks like the new FLO!

And who said "where is the porter?"

A side of scopion was pretty funny!

[cabioTAR]

And what did they look for in the dark? Was it public or chartered bus to Chiang Mai?

So no rice harvesting?

Yeah the looked for the clue in dark among buddha statues for the next bus to Chiang Mai. It was chartered. They actually came using the same buses from Khao San road. The 3rd bus to Chiang Mai carried 7 teams.

   We were right banzai! 

Now, about those yellow bags.....

Oooooh!! Is Mai going to be the FLO of the season?? Wanted to quit after one leg?? 

Mai broke the record, wanna quit as early as 1st leg ... Flo was just in final 4

[TARAsia Fan]

cabioTAR!!!!!

How are you??? Good to see you back, my friend. 

Mai is quickly getting on my s-list and I'll be giving her a lot of s on my recap.

Natalie & Pailin showed me some toughness in this episode. AD & Fuzzie, don't know what quite to make of them yet .

There was some mugging for the camera, especially from Henry & Bernie, but his side of scorpion line was very funny. Ida & Tania were the ones talking about getting a porter at the pitstop. Funny as well.

And I have a feeling based on the promo for next week that it'll be the Beauty Queens II going as it appears they either miss a flight at the airport or are not allowed to board for security reasons. I believe that is what is hinted at for next week.

[georgiapeach]

Cabio!!    Wonderful to see you back!

Flo redeemed herself post race.

But if Mai whines/complains/carries on like FLO did, we are in for some entertainment. Remember the teacup boats?

[eragon]

hi... i'm a newbie here... but i'm reading spoilers here...

i want to share this spoiler here...

while you were sequestered who did you THINK would be eliminated next (just asking on your opinion on who you think came last next not the actual team let's not make you pay 5m lol) ?
Neena: umm... I was sure it would be another very strong team, because the underdog always wins the race.

And yes, one of the teams, I considered to be strong and intelligent, came next.

credits to duckie of AXN forum...

==============================================
my answer...

we can say the stong teams are Henry/Bernie, Mai/Oliver, Geoff/Tisha

Geoff/Tisha - absolutely safe!! theywere even spotted in India leg.

Mai/Oliver - they were spotted in hue which is to be leg 3.

Henry/Bernie - there were no spoilers saying they survived leg 2... and take note, In the spoiler, H/B, W/I, N/K were the teams mist likely to be eliminated in leg 2, however, H/B are the stongest team among them...

[cabioTAR]

thanks for welcoming wish from TF and peach...

I'm happy to be here too ...

I have missed 1st half of TARA3 Premiere ... gonna to watch rerun tonite ...

[georgiapeach]

  to RFF, eragon! Of course, I know your work from AXN and am delighted to see you here! 

I too thought that was an interesting comment, and will be eager to see what develops.

I will say that I think/hope that Henry and Bernie go far in the race....

And I am so sorry for Amit and Neena's bad taxi luck, they also looked like a strong team.

And ALL of us had that spoiler wrong  --I don't believe I saw any speculation at all that they would be the first team eliminated. I love it when even those of us spoiled to the core can still be surprised! 

[mswood]

FInally a season of TAR ASIA that I can really enjoy.  Already I like this cast so much more then the last season (though I really loved a good chuck of season 1's cast).

So far I don't hate anyone.  I liked Mia and Oliver until their rant at the end, but will see.  Unsure of Ad & Fuzzie and the father son duo, but otherwise pretty good all around for a first episode.

[mswood]

Really the biggest downfall for this season is that the US version is going to be airing at the same time. 

I so could have used this during the long spring and summer withdrawal period.

[TARAsia Fan]

The first two seasons were run in November and I don't know why the show was moved up this season, but I'll take it.

[mswood]

Oh its fine, its just wishful thinking that we could enjoy one during the down time of the other...  But I am very happy to get another Asia season.

[georgiapeach]

Here is my guess on why we see Natalie saying the "worst thing that can happen"....

There is a good flight out of Chiang Mai to Saigon on 5/22 at 1440PM  arr 1945. Teams that miss that flight are going to have to wait until the next morning to leave, and it appears that we will have some sort of 5/22AM task (Paintball?) for the racers which may delay them.

A 24 hour Pitstop fits timewise, but does not fit with all the press about shorter rest times, a tougher and harder race, and I don't believe that happens here.

I am thinking that these pictures


are probably taken in the Chiang Mai airport as the columns and windows seem quite similar:


leading me to think that they miss the 5/22 flight and must wait until the AM of 5/23 to fly out, not arriving Saigon until 1030. But are they the ONLY team to miss that flight? Maybe not....

Does it mean they are eliminated? Not necessarily. We have been told that several teams do not arrive to the clue until the afternoon of 5/23. If the spoiler info is correct, then a M/M team is eliminated in Saigon, and we will have the pleasure of Natalie and Pailin's company a while longer.

[georgiapeach]

More from duckie at AXN:

  15 hours ago, duckie says:   
 
 BY SAM

Sam Wu wrote at 10:34am
hey duck, many people have asked us about the taxi incident, and here's the real story. When we got to Chiangmai, the taxi driver ran up to us and said "rice?". We didn't even tell him where we wanted to go, and it clearly wa... Read Mores obvious he knew we were racers and he knew where we had to go. So we thought he was a provided taxi driver, and if drivers are provided by production, then we don't have to pay for it. We didn't realise it was a PUBLIC taxi so we got screwed. Turns out - he took other teams there before us, so that's why he knew where to go exactly... It was both good luck and bad luck!

 
 

[apskip]

Getting moved from 4th place to 7th place was relatively minor for Vince and Sam. Having a taxi driver who knew where to go was priceless. Just look at Neena and Amit, whose unfortunate elimination was directly attributable to a poor taxi driver.

[eragon]

Here is my guess on why we see Natalie saying the "worst thing that can happen"....

There is a good flight out of Chiang Mai to Saigon on 5/22 at 1440PM  arr 1945. Teams that miss that flight are going to have to wait until the next morning to leave, and it appears that we will have some sort of 5/22AM task (Paintball?) for the racers which may delay them.

A 24 hour Pitstop fits timewise, but does not fit with all the press about shorter rest times, a tougher and harder race, and I don't believe that happens here.

I am thinking that these pictures


are probably taken in the Chiang Mai airport as the columns and windows seem quite similar:


leading me to think that they miss the 5/22 flight and must wait until the AM of 5/23 to fly out, not arriving Saigon until 1030. But are they the ONLY team to miss that flight? Maybe not....

Does it mean they are eliminated? Not necessarily. We have been told that several teams do not arrive to the clue until the afternoon of 5/23. If the spoiler info is correct, then a M/M team is eliminated in Saigon, and we will have the pleasure of Natalie and Pailin's company a while longer.

I don't think M/M team is eliminated in Saigon, Neena's statement is more reliable, right? After episode 1, all M/M teams were in the bottom 5... and we can't say yet that they're strong and intelligent... so there's a big chance that Henry/Bernie will be eliminated...

[Chateau d If]

Can we go to the water park?


Công viên nước Sàig̣n



Panoramio

[georgiapeach]

Heee...supposedly we are already going to the zoo, Chateau!

I don't think M/M team is eliminated in Saigon, Neena's statement is more reliable, right? After episode 1, all M/M teams were in the bottom 5... and we can't say yet that they're strong and intelligent... so there's a big chance that Henry/Bernie will be eliminated...

I don't know eragon. I think if I was giving an interview, I might well say something nice about the next team eliminated.

IF (note IF), the Saigon spoilers are correct, then I was told a M/M team were eliminated. I was actually told the identity of those racers, but didn't think it was fair to them to say anything before the show even aired. But despite that, the info was released elsewhere, so I see no reason not to say now what I was told--which was that it was the Korean team of William and Isaac who were eliminated in Saigon.

The problem is that the Saigon previews are somewhat different from what we expected, so is the spoiler correct? I don't know. We have no objective data for this leg (as in photos, film permits, etc) so it is possible that the spoiler is incorrect. But for now, I am going to keep the faith. And if the spoiler is right, then that is what I was told.

But the fun of it is that we really don't know!     We were all wrong about the first elim so anything is possible.

[banzai]

http://amazing-race-asia.axn-asia.com/season3/forum/528422/topic/532297/
4 hours ago, PearPear says:         

That yellow thing is garland made from real flowers, marigold, used to offer sacrifice the Statue of Buddha.

[georgiapeach]

Thanks banzai and PearPear (nice to meet another fruit, !!)

I am so glad to know--just wish they had showed it!

[banzai]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qnXqmAxGylY" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/qnXqmAxGylY</a>

intro; thanks to dapa091 

[banzai]

1 day ago, Jaa2008 says:         


Good afternoon banzai-kun,

Q: What are those yellow thingies?
A: The yellow thingies are garland, a circular or spiral arrangement of intertwined material
(as flowers or leaves), Thai people use these flower to respect for holy things and pray for lucky racing,
lucky investing, lucky loving, etc.

Q: Are they gifts or good luck charms?
A: They are affect to mental of prayers...some of prayers are good luck,
some of them don't have anything back.

from our Thai friend.   

[georgiapeach]

I wish they had shown the offering to the Buddhas... Much nicer than just looking for a clue. 

Thanks to you and to Jaa for sharing that! Another mystery solved.

[dapa091]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qnXqmAxGylY" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/qnXqmAxGylY</a>

intro; thanks to dapa091 

AW thanks

[georgiapeach]

to RFF, dapa!

Thanks for the intro!

[banzai]

<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3SxTTzzTGJ7s0pJiz&amp;related=1" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3SxTTzzTGJ7s0pJiz&amp;related=1</a>

Asian version of the TAR theme/tune. 

[TARAsia Fan]

That looks like most of the scenes were from the first season.

[georgiapeach]

But way cool to hear the music!

[Littlemik]

Really the biggest downfall for this season is that the US version is going to be airing at the same time. 

I so could have used this during the long spring and summer withdrawal period.

It was good before because you could watch TARA from start to finish then start TAR getting a "full year" worth of viewing.