The Amazing Race International Versions > TAR Asia

AMAZING RACE ASIA COMMENTARY

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Sandy is a physical trainer in peak condition; ARA1 got eactly what it should have expected when it cast him. He is fabulous for any pure strength or speed tasks. I find him very likable, enough so that Sandy/Francesca is my favorite team.  I would root for any ARA1 teams having the planning or execution skills of a Colin/Christie, but none have shown that although it is difficult to really know if they have them since the extreme bunching does eliminate differentiation of teams through air travel.

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EPISODE 9 starts from the Krabi Thailand area.

The departures are bunched to only 22 minutes apart:
Mardy/Marsio at 437am
Andy/Laura at 441am
Sandy/Francesca at 442am
Andrew/Syeon at 444am
Zabrina/JoeJer at 459am

Teams fly to Kolkata India, 2300 km via Bagkok. Sandy says "we should eat before we get to India because we probably are not going to be eating in India." Prophetic words; as they ways on Top Chef, "Watch What Happens". Several teams were grousing about Andy and Laura hiding secret maps in their luggage, giving them an unfair advantage.

 On arrival they ask taxi driver's to take them to Mother Teresa's Church. They all except M/M went to the wrong church, not St. Teresa of Avila Church, so they have to go to a second place. The chaos of India's large city road traffic chaos is clear. Kolkata's metropolitan area is the 9th largest in the world. The M/M taxi gets a flat, but the driver is adept and fixes it quickly. Some teams light a candle in memory of Mother Teresa and some do not. The clue box is a Roadblock asking them "Who Wants to Shine?" and sends them to a railway station where shoeshine men are waiting to instruct them. Them must sell 7 shoeshines at 5 rupees each(which they get to keep) to get the next clue. The selectees and their order of finish are:

Laura
Francesca
Syeon
Zabrina
Mardy

The clue sends them on to a traditional Bengali meal for each member of the team at Hakeli Restaurant at the Parak Lee Inn Hotel. Francesca said on the way that "she was hoping to not eat anything in India that didn't come in a packet." She did not get her wish, not remotely close. Everything has to be eaten. It includes lentils, dal, sheep's eyes, trays of vegetable and meat dishes to go with rice, a large mound of rice (Mardy/Marsio even asked for more) and dessert. It is a huge meal, but not as gross as caviar in Moscow or meat in Mendoza. Everyone was able to finish it, although what was surprising is that Mardy/Marsio did not gain any ground from their last position coming out of the shoeshine Roadblock; their statement was "it was too much for us". There was a lot of barfing off-camera and some loud farts on-camera. The finishing order was S/F, Z/JJ, A/L, A/S, and M/M. However, it was made meaningless by the Hours of Operation at the next task, Kamiskar's Sari Boutique, which were 9am to 7pm. Teams came back there in the morning and had to find their next clue among the saris. Sandy and Francesca had hired the same driver from the prior day This is the classic luck-based task. A/S finished first. A/L finished second and stole the taxi driver from S/F, who were upset when they finished 3rd and found out. This was classic Andy/Laura behavior that endeared them to the other teams to the extent that all wished them a quick opportunity to spend maximum time in Sequesterville.
Z/JJ finished 4th and M/M 5th.

Next was the DETOUR CARRY or COUNT. CARRY involved using top-of-the headpiece to stabilize jugs filled with milk to carry them a distance and empty them into a huge urn. When a line was reached, then the clue was released by a monitor. COUNT was devilish. More than 1000 betel nuts were in a basket. Teams had to successfully count them. If they missed the accurate number, then they had to recount as many times as it took. CARRY was the easy choice. Andy/Laura breezed through this. All the other teams COUNTed and, except for Andrew/Syeon, who finished fast, regretted it. It took the other 3 teams many laborious tries.

A/L got a clue to the B.P Gangooli St. Kolay Market on the Bank rooftop across from the Schiava train station. When they arrived there, Alan was alone and handed them a clue to CONTINUE. S/F and Z/JJ were on their way there, but M/M had not finished. Episode 10 will be the classic TBC.

This was a typical fascinating India leg. I loved it except for the bunching.

TARAsia Fan:
We debated about this episode on TARFlies. Great ep as you got to see the heart of India. A true Bengali dinner has to be savored. There's no way to gorge or eat fast. If you read the clue, you know that this is a meal not to be taken lightly. Sandy blew through his meal. Joe Jer ate hers without too much of a problem. Then there was Syeon who is just so tiny. I felt bad for her.

The shoe shining task showed that that attractive women got to do the tasks quicker (might have to do with editing as well). If you notice, Sandy and Francesca are slowly moving up the ranks. After a horrible start, they've been doing better and better and now are becoming a massive threat to win the whole thing. If the task if physical, they'll finish in the top three for sure. For mental tasks, they aren't as strong and we see that with the Betelnut challenge.

The team I'm impressed with is Zab/Joe Jer. They keep plugging along and don't allow things to bother them. They may get a little flustered, but they'll keep at a task until they finish it. I like them. :)

And Andy/Laura just continue to make enemies. The Dreaded Yield hasn't appeared yet, but you know they have to be a target when it finally does show up.

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EPISODE 9 CONTINUED or EPISODE 10 (take your pick)

Andy/Laura are on their way to the Sealdah train station in Kolkata for a 19 hour trip to New Delhi in a 2nd class compartment(I know that well from 3 weeks of riding trains in 2nd class throughout India; there is minimal comfort but you get to know everyone around you who speaks English if you wish). Andrew/Syeon, Mardy/Marasio and Zabrina/JoeJer are on their way to the Bank roof top, the to the station. M/M remark that it is the Rajastani Express trian leaving Kolkata at 1635, which puts it into New Delhi at about 1130 the next morning. Sandy/Francesca finally finish a correct count; they are not the brightest bulbs around. There will be a YIELD once the Red Fort is reached.

M/M and A/S discuss a pact to YIELD A/L. S/F say that A/L had some merit in their their discussion to steal their taxi driver. Nevertheless, after a madcap race to the Red Fort S/F do YIELD A/L because A/L represent the greatest threat to win ARA1. They are then presented with the DETOUR of DONKEY or DELIVER. DONKEY is locating donkeys at Cycle Market Chandi Chowk back in Old Delhi, the delivering a load of onions to the onion vendor at Lahori Gate Crossing. DELIVER is locating by means of a SONY Cybershot camera only Sunny International at the Gadodia Maket back in Old Delhi and delvering bags of chili powder to a spice shop. Both of these were difficult and fraught with many perils. Finding the way involved many twists and turns, asking locals for help. The onions were bouncing out of the basket on the donkey. The bags of chili powder  were bulky and heavy. S/F and Z/JJ chose DONKEY; after their YIELD expired so did A/L. M/M and A/S chose DELIVER. Due to what must have been major mistakes by S/F, A/L managed to overcome the entire yield period and catch up to them just before the finish. Andy made the mistke of trying muscle Sandy out of the way; Sandy retaliated and maneuvered his donkey to cut him off. Poor little Syeon was struggling with this big bag of chilli powder, but the biggest negative was the chili dust on Mardy. Marsio, Andrew and Syeon. Teams finished S/F, M/M, A/S, A/L and Z/JJ.

Next is a Roadblock to the Tibetan Monastery Market, where a number of dung cakes needed to be made and put on the walls. The arrival here is in a different order than expected, as S/F have great difficulty and arrive 4th after A/L, A/S and M/M. Z/JJ are in last and in trouble. This task is laborious. It is ideal for Sandy, who slaps those dung cakes up. Marsio and Andy are doing OK. Laura is struggling and JoeJer does not seem to be making up any time. Teams finish in this order and head to the pitstop at Jain Mandir Dada Bari (crossing incredibly hot tiles in bare feet to get there):

A/S
S/F
A/L
M/M
Z/JJ

However, Andy/Laura cannot find a taxi and Zabrina/JoeJer arrive and take the one that A/L are about to get.
S/F manage to take the lead and finish first. For their victory, they were awarded one of the few prizes, a resort holiday for 2 courtesy of
Air Asia. Andy/Laura are last and eliminated. Many will be glad to see them out, but now there are no villains left. The final order was:

S/F
M/M
A/S
Z/JJ
A/L

patlini:
I really enjoyed these 2 India episodes, lots of frantic racing and confusion.  Nice to see that its not just TAR contestants that experience this.

The Bengali meal didn't seem that bad to me, but then again I love Indian food.  I would have preferred it to 2lbs of Caviar!  Did Sandy eat both his and Francesca's it seemed that way to me.  Plus their inability to count the nuts correctly really added to the "all brawn" label for Sandy (he does seem like a nice guy though).

When A/L were yielded Laura gave a shout out to Catherine Tate "am i bothered"  which I thought was funny,  and the fact that they caught up with S/F shows that they were certainly competitors to be reckoned with.

So on that note I was sad to see them go, not the worse villains the race has seen but good players.

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