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TARA3: Sam & Vince (Hong Kong)

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georgiapeach:
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Episode 7

Woah Nelly that was action packed!

Goldfish Market

The first thing we did when we got our clue was to give Tania and Ida money for the next leg.  This was a tradition that we knew of from the previous Races…  We opened the clue and went to the Goldfish Market in Mong Kok to pick up 2 goldfish each.
They were very interesting, oddly shaped and rather large goldfish… not the ones you typically think of.  We had then returned back to Hong Kong side and went to the fish store in Sheung Wan.  The store was not open yet so we decided to rest and go to a nearby hotel for some shut-eye.  In the morning we went to the fish store and all the teams except Tania and Ida were there... We queued up first in line and exchanged our fish for the clue. 

Travel to Macau

Our clue asked us to travel to Macau by ferry.  I knew we were in Sheung Wan and so the Ferry Terminal was close by… but I wasn’t’ exactly which would be faster… We initially flagged a taxi down and I think the other teams saw us… but  we decided to run to the terminal when I realized that we were only a few blocks away.  We  were able to get onto the next ferry to Macau within 15 mins of leaving the fish store.  At Macau we were we had to take a pedicab to Senado Square to get our next clue.  We looked for a “stronger” driver because we knew that we would be getting him to go as fast as he could.  The clue box was easily visible as it was in the middle of the square. The clue directed us to Macau Tower and there was a caution that there was a “Yield” ahead. We quickly grabbed a taxi and headed over to the  Tower.  In the taxi we contemplated how the yield would affect the game.

Commentary ---

Now apparently the next few events that happened have caused quite a stir with the people watching when it was shown on TV…. And I’ll add my thoughts to each of them

On screen we were shown to have said “ We would yield our direct competitors and they shall remain nameless…. And it’s not advantageous to yield them at this point in time and show our hand completely…” I will tell you all right now that there were more than one teams who we thought were direct competitors for whatever reason.  Yes we did get along with everybody but it was a RACE… now… That clip that was shown was purposely used to set up a clip for later… we definitely had a lot of thoughts that were not shown about different scenarios with regards to the yield… but regardless our main objective when using a Yield would be to create distance between us and another team to either allow us to “win that leg” or not be eliminated…. knowing that we had yet to do a task this leg and that we had to go to Macau tower  as well as knowing that Tania and Ida would be very far behind us… we decided to NOT use the Yield on ANYONE…. ( I thought we would be bungee jumping and yielding somebody would not make a real difference since it was early in this leg and if it was bungee jumping --- it could be done only one at a time anyway… there would be a lot of time wasted in queuing up in line for the next person and the yield wouldn’t do much). 

Now the next clip regarding the yield showed Geoff and Tish saying “ I just hope that strategy wise that the Hong Kong boys have yielded someone… hopefully not US…. cause they would think that WE were far behind… “ (That in itself says that they were not sure what we were planning to do.. including possibly yielding them)

When we opened the clue we  realized that it probably wasn’t’ bungee jumping since it read “Who wants to climb the tower of success”  I decided to do it since I thought that it would probably a physically demanding task.  I had to climb the tower’s mast  … all the way to the TOP to receive the next clue.  Apparently the tower is the 10th tallest tower in the world….I got geared up and ready to go.  It really was a physically demanding task as the climb was up multiple ladders inside and then outside the tower.  It just seemed to be never ending!  The outside part of the climb was quite scary since you’re extremely high up on the mast and if I remember correctly there is just one safety clip between our harness and the ladder.

As well the person giving me the clue was shaking the mast so that it would move!!!  FREAKY!!!!   Now while I was climbing there was drama brewing down in the waiting area….

Geoff and Tish had apparently yielded Henry and Bernie… then….
When Tish told Sam … Sam gave her a “high five” and said “that’s cool”… Sam has reflected on this action in his blog already …see part of it below:

Sam:

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.

Dragonboat

The next task we needed to paddle a dragon boat around a buoy to receive our next clue. I am really competitive and just want to get things done.  I was extremely tired from climbing the mast and then we had to paddle a dragon boat with only two people  around a buoy.  I was irritated because you must work as a team and paddle together with the oars entering the water at the same time… that’s why there is a drummer so that you could keep the same pace and be efficient but Sam wasn’t keeping with the beat.  I have paddled dragon boat before so I got into that mindset and did what we used to do by shouting and chanting together and then to add energizing words like “Pump It Up !!!” … Sam thought I was getting down on him so he shouted back at me… with some words that got BLEEPED hahaha!  I’m not the only one now with the BLEEPED WORDS HAHA!!  He realized that he was wrong later ...haha..
 
When we finally returned to the dock we got our next clue.

Detour

We had to go to the Casino to play Blackjack and win 9 hands to spell the word COMPLETED.   I thought that the casino would be easier to find than the Pagoda and that when leaving we would be able to get a taxi easily too…  As well, winning 9 hands of Blackjack is quite easy… ( I have played before and I know the strategies to win… PLUS I’ve watched SWINGERS ----- "always double down on 11  !!! " HAHA )  When we got there we had to put on “Formal” wear before starting.   It was quite easy to play and it was a nice change to dry off inside.  We also thought that it would be funny to change the costumes and names around on Henry and Bernie

( the only reason that we did this was because we were friends with them not because we didn't like them ...and I knew that they would appreciate the JOKE and think that it was funny… AND THEY DID …… YOU CAN SEE HENRY AND HEAR BERNIE LAUGHING.....We would have done that to GEOFF AND TISH too but we knew that they went to do the lion dance.)

Chinese Zodiac and Pit-Stop

We had to travel to the Ah Mah cultural centre Colane island in Macau to find our next clue.  It was POURING RAIN and there were NO TAXIS... and we even flagged some down that declined our business.  When we go there we realized that it was the pit-stop but before entering it we had complete the CHINESE ZODIAC first.  Neither of us memorized the Zodiac but we had enough clues and also enough knowledge of our friends and family’s Zodiac characters that we were able to do it in two tries.  We only got mixed up with one of the animals actually.

2nd place ….I’m content with our placing but that TV and PS3 sure looked SWEET !!!! DAMN… so close!!!….watch to see what happens next episode...it will be intense, Thursday night on AXN!

VMC

alivenotdead.com/vincechung

snap-on:
Cochin, India

An emotional episode, on many levels. Receiving a letter from home was one. It was fantastic getting a surprise letter from home cos we've been racing for a while, and the encouragement was what I needed to push myself even further. The one line my parents wrote which meant the most to me was "Winning this Race is not important; gaining the experience therefrom is." When I read this, I was very comforted. It was very true. The race experience has been nothing short of fantastic, and it reminded me to continue savouring it. In fact, when we in a cab racing to the pitstop, it was this very phrase that made me very calm. I told Vince (which wasn't shown on TV) that if we got eliminated in Cochin, I'd be very satisfied. To be a part of the best reality TV show in the world has been a miracle in itself.

Friends and family have asked me about the missed connecting flight to Cochin, and how we did not get the same flight as AD/Fuzzie & Ida/Tania. Suffice to say, Vince & I (including Bernie & Henry) have searched the entire HK airport for the best possible & AVAILABLE flights, and together concluded that the one we had was the best one. In fact, Vince and I were at the airport so long searching for flights that two teams (AD/Fuzzie & Bernie/Henry) caught up.

So yes, together, Bernie & Henry and us willingly decided to work together, pool our knowledge on what flights were left open to us. There was no hoodwinking, no ploy to get anyone eliminated. We most definitely weren't being sneaky or mean or evil to Bernie & Henry. I mean, we (including Bernie/Henry) had NO idea that we would miss that important connection from Mumbai to Cochin. It was very simply the BEST AVAILABLE flight (HK-SIN-MUMBAI-COCHIN) at that point, and in fact, we were very glad to get those flights. I am not permitted to comment how AD/Fuzzie & Ida/Tania got that HK-MUMBAI-COCHIN flight when we ourselves couldn't. So, it was very simply a case of freakin' BAD LUCK that we were unable to catch the connecting flight. Case closed.

Hence, this ep was also very emotional for me because we had to race against Bernie & Henry to the pitstop, esp since it said specifically that the last team WILL BE eliminated. Flying together to India gave us that precious chance to bond more just the two teams alone, because we were never really bunched together for a significant amount of time (apart from sleeping outside the Hue airport, but that was with a few other teams!!).

It was very hard for me. While I was glad we weren't eliminated, I was crushed that they would be eliminated. It wasn't a joyous time for us, and we didn't celebrate our close shave. We respect this team very deeply, and like this team very much, and frankly, they were indeed one of the strongest competitors, if not *the* strongest competitors, and this is very much a compliment to them.

I end by saying that this seaon's Race indeed does take its physical, emotional and mental toll. I was truly so glad to have my parent's letter with me, to last till whichever position we end up in, in the Race, and when I'm back home in HK.

PS - Kudos to the superb hair-stylist extraordinaire... Tania. =)

(Sam's diary)

snap-on:
Episode 8

That was close! 

Go to the Ruins of St. Paul

We started early in the morning at the Temple and had to go to the Ruins to get the next clue which directed us to go back to the Macau Tower.  We were lucky that some kids were touring around on scooters and happened to be hanging around at the temple area.  We used their phones to call a taxi to come get us.

Macau Tower

Of course … I knew that the next task would require someone to bungee… what other challenge would there be to do?  We arrived second and it was an “hours of operation” in effect so we just stayed there and waited it out.  The four teams all bunched together to wait.  When the doors opened it was a Roadblock.  To even out the Roadblocks Sam decided to do the bungee jump.  I really wanted to do it actually but for strategy we needed to even it out.  The teams members remaining stayed at the bottom of the tower to wait and we all cheered the other competitors together!  When we got the clue it told us to go back to Hong Kong by ferry and then to go to the MASkargo holding centre.  Little did we know that Geoff and Tish actually took the helicopter ( which is much faster). 

MASkargo

When we got to the cargo holding centre there were MILLIONS of different sized boxes with names that were very similar to all the team members.  We had to be very patient but work quickly and efficiently.  When watching it on TV… Sam actually missed the box with our names on it… haha!!  He’s supposed to be the patient, calm and analytical one too!  I found the box on our second sweep!  When we opened the box we had to read the letters out loud to the camera before receiving our next clue.  My letter was from a family friend in Hong Kong and Sam’s was from his parents.  I tried to hold back my emotions but Sam like most of the teams was overcome with emotion.  We had been racing for so long and it was great to hear from someone from home.  It did hit me though in the taxi ride to the airport and I was a little “spaced”(as seen when exiting the taxi).

Cochin India

We had to travel to Cochin India so when we got to the airport in Hong Kong we we confident that we knew what we were doing.  After all it was our home turf and we were 2nd and in front of the other teams.  We asked multiple desks and figured out every possible way to get to Cochin. 

Now again the next few events made a difference in the final outcome of this leg. 

We had found a flight to MUMBAI on AIR INDIA but were unable to purchase tickets because of a some restrictions…..!!!! 

We pleaded with the counter and looked for loopholes but we were unsuccessful.  ( now … this is the SAME flight that AD &FUZZIE and IDA&TANIA eventually took to Mumbai to transfer to Cochin.. to this day I HAVE NO IDEA how they were able to secure this WHEN both Bernie and Henry and our team were UNABLE TO PERSUADE them…)  We shared our info with all the other teams that were there at the airport and told them what our plan were.  Ida and Tania weren’t even at the airport at this time, it was just AD FUZZIE and BERNIE HENRY…

instead of waiting for the next bookable FLIGHT…

The next best thing to do was to fly to Singapore from Hong Kong on an earlier flight to catch a flight to Mumbai and then transfer in MUMBAI to the AIR INDIA flight to COCHIN ( the same COCHIN flight that AD &FUZZIE and IDA&TANIA eventually took). 

Three teams were all clumped together at the same ticket counters and internet terminals After doing their own research and thinking about the situation Bernie and Henry decided that this was best for their team too since (they had a choice to stick with AD and FUZZIE whom did not buy any tickets to anywhere yet at this point ) there should have been no problem getting to Cochin because we had more than 2 hours to do this when arriving in MUMBAI… but…

We had actually arrived in Mumbai ahead of AD & FUZZIE and IDA & TANIA) but because we had not taken an Air India flight into Mumbai we had to do customs and check out and then check back in… ( or something like that) … For some reason this process took an excess of 2 HOURS… both of our teams were quite discouraged and because this should not have happened.  IT SHOULD NEVER TAKE THIS LONG….

Because of this … we had to think on our feet and the next best thing to do was to travel to the domestic terminal and take a flight on a domestic carrier to Cochin… but again… we had to wait and hoped that the hours of operations were going to slow the other teams down.

When arriving to Cochin in the morning both of our teams knew that this would probably be it … either us or them … but we both help each other to the Temple to get the next clue. 

Temple

When arriving at the Temple we got our blessing and then our next clue.  It required us to travel quite a distance to wash an elephant. 

Washing the Elephant

By this time we knew that we were the last two teams because there were only two clues left in the box in front of the temple.  This is when you run on adrenaline… haha and you are at the mercy of your transportation.  THE KEY… IS NOT TO GET LOST… which in a foreign land is not easy to do…

After about an hour and a half drive we arrived at our elephant washing destination and picked the elephant that was closest to the water.  We quickly washed the elephant and made sure to handle it with respect and care…


DETOUR FISH or FILL

After reading the clues I thought that carrying fish would be the better choice.  We were wired and I don’t think that concentrating on a delicate task would be good … as well the location of the FISH task seemed to be more well known so FISH it was.
When we got there we saw the GIANT fish that we had to TRANSPORT… MAN THEY WERE HUGE!!  This was a RACE dammit so I decided to power through and take 2 at a time… the fish were slippery, frozen, smelly and awkwardly balanced.  The first trip was torturous because we had NO idea how far and where the restaurant was.  We figured that someone there would know and that they would help us … luckily some dude showed us the way.  It was quite a long trek… maybe 15 minutes pf walking with the fish over my shoulders and then  having to walk upstairs to drop it off … grrr. I was ANGRY hahaha…  the second trip was much better because we knew how far we had to walk and could pace ourselves.

Bolgatty Palace

After delivering the 6 fish we finally got the Pit Stop clue.  We ran to our taxi who kindly stayed for us and got on our way… all we could do is pray that he knew where to go and that there would be no traffic.  It was the longest taxi ride since we had no idea where Henry and Bernie were…maybe we figured that they had done the Fill task but were not sure if they were ahead or if we would be able to beat them in a footrace.  In the taxi we both agreed that we had done the best that we could and that we would be content with the results no matter what they were when we arrived at the mat!  When we got near to the area… another car had come out of nowhere and plugged up the single lane way… we honked and honked but they wouldn’t leave so we decided to pay the taxi driver and run to the pit-stop he said it was about 5 minutes away … MORE like 15 minutes away and the the actual pit stop was deep into the palace grounds near the water…

I was exhausted from carrying the fish, and running from the taxi , searching for the pit stop while carrying my backpack… we jumped onto the mat and waited for Alan’s response….

You are team number….. FOUR….!!!

We actually had mixed feelings because we knew that we had scraped by and avoided elimination but that meant having to say good-bye to Henry and Bernie who are really cool and funny.  The Race definitely became more serious at that point since there were only four teams left.

Team Hong Kong… LUCKY TO BE… ALIVE NOT DEAD …..

VMC

alivenotdead.com/vincechung

snap-on:
Pune, India

The race heats up, and with only 4 teams left, the pressure is rising. I think this ep is pretty much self-explanatory. So just a few quick thoughts:

Why did we initially think of U-Turning Ida & Tania, and not Geoff & Tish? Well, for us, as mentioned earlier, we would only use a Yield or U-turn if it is strategically advantageous to us. For instance, if we were neck-&-neck with another team and we wanted to add distance. At the previous Yield in Macau, we knew we were ahead of everyone, so we didn't want to use it. At Pune, we noticed that we finally caught up to Ida & Tania because we saw them pushing their carts past our sugar-cane machine. So we knew that we were in neck & neck position with Ida & Tania, more so than the other teams. But we didn't know if they were in FRONT or BEHIND us!! It'd been really stupid to U-Turn someone ahead of us, right?! lol

So, we ended up not U-Turning anyone, and therefore when Allan said we were Team no. 1, that was genuine surprise and relief!! cos it'd been a long leg, and we had expected Ida & Tania to be first.

The final 4 teams are all strong, and not to be underestimated. With Lady Luck playing such a huge factor in the race, as you can see how teams go from last to first, or first to last, nothing is really clear-cut anymore. We just needed to race with a clear head, and make the right decisions at detours.

Next week will be a tough leg, as seen in the preview! I'm gonna be cringing!!! hahahaha!

(Sam's fb)

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