The Amazing Race International Versions > TAR Asia

TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)

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snap-on:
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

snap-on:
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

snap-on:
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)

georgiapeach:
Thanks snap-on! These are so wonderful to read!!

snap-on:
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:

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