Topic: Congratulations Tammy & Victor winners of TAR 14

[puddin]

I am so overwhelmed trying to catch up on all the media articles and posts and realized we did not have a thread to say congrats to the final 3 teams.



When I say that Asians are the smartest people that I know I kid you not as I live with 2! Are we surprised that brains won over brawn? Congratulations Tammy & Victor! Well Done!

 

[Chateau d If]

Congrats you two.   

I hope you will drop on by here to add to the fun.

[Snooky]

Congrats as well!  They did deserve it the most even though I always route for the underdogs!
 

[TARAsia Fan]

Congratulations to a deserving team. Nice to see a team of Asians doing well. I did root for Jaime & Cara, but the siblings certainly got momentum at the end and this was certainly not a foregone conclusion. Great win. Glad to see them on the mat.

[puddin]

please post any interviews with Tammy & Victor here 

[puddin]

Exclusive Interview: Tammy and Victor, Winners of 'The Amazing Race 14'
Monday, May 11, 2009
             
Tammy and Victor conquered all comers on their way to a victory on The Amazing Race.  The siblings, both lawyers, weren't the strongest, they weren't the fastest, but they proved that they were the best.  Front-runners throughout the race, Victor sealed the deal in last night's final Road Block, showing off his intelligence on the way to the finish line.  Earlier today we had the privilege of speaking with Tammy and Victor about their time on the race, how they ended up winning and how big an advantage their knowledge of Mandarin was during the two legs in China.




Hey, this is Oscar Dahl from BuddyTV, and I'm here with Tammy and Victor, the winners of The Amazing Race 14.  Tammy, Victor, how are you two doing this morning?

Tammy: We're doing fantastic

Victor: I think we should give ourselves a little cheer.

T: Yay!! (laughs)


Was it tough for the last few months not being able to tell anybody that you won?

V: It was tough at the beginning, but then it sort of became this sadistic fun game, tormenting our family and friends, knowing we won the race. 

T: For me the hardest part was before leaving and not telling people that we were on the race.  We had to lie about where we were going and Victor and I did not cross-check our stories and told different stories to people.  I said that I went to Australia. 


Last night, how long did that surfboard challenge actually take and how far ahead of Jaime and Cara did you finish?

V: It's hard to have a really good accurate sense of time.  I think when we got to the surfboard challenge, they were there for about a half hour, I think it took me about half an hour to complete the task and then we crossed the mat, we made it to the mat about 30-45 minutes before Jaime and Cara did.

T: It's just hard to have an accurate sense of time, because adrenaline is pumping.  I'm not looking at my watch, I'm looking at the task and of course once we crossed the finish line, you're definitely not looking at the watch. 


In the clips from last night, it seemed like you were pretty confident that you had it.

V: Well, you have to take it in context.  On the cab ride to the road block, we were prepared to lose, but actually feeling pretty good about it.  If Luke and Margie or Jaime and Cara won, we felt pretty good about that.  And then there was a glimmer of hope, and when we saw there was hope and we left the road block first it started to sink in, "You know, I think we just won."  It was pretty amazing.


At the beginning of the season, it seemed like you guys had a little trouble getting along at points...

V: Just a little?  (laughs)


...and staying on the same page.  Was that a product of editing, that you two got better as the season went along, or is that actually how it went down? 

T: I think Victor and I got better at competing with each other as a team as the race went along.  Does that mean we stopped fighting?  Hell no.  Every night we would bicker at each other.  We're brother and sister, that's what we're designed to do.  But as the race progressed we learned that if we want to win, we need to really respect each other.  I need to respect Victor for what he's good at and put up with things that I might find annoying and he had to do the same for me and we both learned to push and pull a little bit.  We don't need to fight about every little thing. I don't need to be right about everything and I think Victor learned that he didn't need to be right about everything. As the race progressed we became better teammates.

V: Especially on the Romania leg, for me, it was important to realize that the responsibilities for doing well on the race did not rest solely on my shoulders and I know that it was painful for Tammy to see me feel that weight on myself.  I'm nine years older than Tammy so I've always been used to feeling that responsibility, so it really brought home the fact that I have to trust my sister whether I like it or not.  It's a team that wins The Amazing Race.  The other thing that helped us was that we were not on the same page at the beginning of the race. Tammy was enjoying the race.  Her focus was on not coming in last.

T: Yeah, I was always so excited every time we got in and we weren't the last team to arrive and Victor was like "We want to push to be first."  I wanted to win each leg, Tammy didn't want to lose any of the legs, and it became a source of tension, because I was like "If you could've run a little bit faster we could have been in first." And I think Romania forced us to come to common ground on that and I'm thankful we were able to sort that out early.


Some people have said that maybe spending two legs in China was an unfair advantage in your favor.  Do you guys have any thoughts on that? 

V: I definitely am fully happy that we had two legs there, in terms of language in China.  I think the great thing about the race, the great way they design the race - different people have different strengths and different weaknesses.  I thought the beautiful thing about the China leg is you got to see Margie and Luke at their best with their swimming.  None of us could touch them.  I certainly think you could say it was unfair to Jen and Kisha, but you could see Jen and Kisha and their speed and athleticism in Gualin and we'd never be able to touch them on that.  Even Jaime and Cara doing choreography, there is no way that any of us could compete against two trained dancers in that task, and I felt we just had a little nerdy language advantage on one of the tasks as well. I thought it was great that we were horrible on certain parts of it and were good on certain parts of it, and we were just going to claim the advantage where we could get it. 

T: I think that the race just has so many different abilities, we were really lucky that we ended up spending so much time in China because we were coming down to the wire, only a couple of teams left, and for Victor and I to be able to communicate with the locals, chat while we're in a long light, it helped us calm down a little bit.  If anything, I think that's what gave us an advantage. 


At what point during the race did you guys look around and think "You know what, we can probably win this thing?"

T: I never thought it until we left the last Road Block.  I hoped against all hope that it would happen, but it's just so hard to comprehend that we could be so lucky or that we could be victorious against ten other teams that are just so incredibly talented, capable and competitive.

V: I always thought we had a shot to be one of the contenders to win it.  I didn't think ...when we showed up day one and saw all the other teams, we were like "These people are huge."  And they're all tall, and they're all athletic. It was nothing like season 13, why couldn't we have been on season 13?  I always felt we could do it, I was no way thinking that we had it in the bag.


Was there anything edited out over the course of the season that you wish they had shown?

T: There were a couple things that were edited out, because I felt a big part of the race for me was all the downtime we just spent with the racers and all the funny sleeping experiences we had.  We're traveling and we spend a lot of time sleeping on airport floors and one time in China we slept on the top of a mountaintop, that was incredible.  It was a funny experience and I felt that everyone really bonded during that and things like that I wish they had aired.

V: I actually wish they had aired a little bit more of the near disasters or the near fiascos that ended up working out.  There were so many strangers who helped us out that unfortunately people will never see. Even in that final leg, the travel agent accidentally gave us first class tickets.

T: We almost went the way of Azaria and Hendekea in the final leg.

V: We almost freaked out and in Tokyo, these great people from Hawaii in fact, basically said "You know what?  Let us give you our credit card and make long distance calls as long as you want to sort this out."

T: And they gave us money to eat and the kindness of strangers we experienced during this race was incredible.

V: Even in the Beijing airport we ran into this random person who let us use their cell phone to make international calls and we found this person sleeping on the floor who basically pulled out his wallet and gave us the little bit of money that he had.  We were able to survive all of those things, but to me it's amazing how strangers were willing to help other strangers.


-Interview Conducted by Oscar Dahl


Below you will find the full mp3 audio of the interview..............

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-amazing-race/exclusive-interview-tammy-and-28540.aspx

[Belle Book]

Congratulations to Tammy & Victor!  I definitely liked them better than Nick & Starr last year!  Of course, the fact that Tammy & Victor are Asian Americans certainly helped.   

Belle Book

[Moo]

CONGRATULATIONS! Oh my! And I sneaked in to use the net just to get hold of who won! Yes!

[puddin]

Heres a video interview from UGO

[kwando1313]

All I Can say is Congrads. Victor really did well on the final roadblock and well. Luke epicfailboated  . oops. that was too bad though.

[ImANewUser]

Congrats Tammy/Victor.

[Jobby]

I'm very very glad that T/V won!

 

[puddin]

This was sent to me via my Hawaiian connection


The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race Winners on Spending $1 Million Prize
May 11, 2009
Hiking the wrong way up a mountain in Dracula territory, sprinting half-naked in Siberia, almost drowning in China, eating starfish and gallivanting around Hawaii without any pants on was all worth it when the Jih siblings crossed the finish line first on The Amazing Race 14. The day after their big win aired, lawyers Victor, 36 from Los Angeles, and Tammy, 27 from San Francisco, talked to PEOPLE about avoiding parental shame, their most difficult legs of the Race moments and how they intend to spend the million bucks. – Carrie Bell

You talked often about disappointing your parents. Was their shame that great of a motivator?
Tammy: Had we gotten eliminated in China, it would have be shameful considering we had been there and spoke the language. But it was not so much a motivator as it is how Victor and I relate to each other. We are brother and sister. Our biggest common ground is our family so of course we are going to talk about them.
Victor: [Our parents] have spent their entire lives investing their energy and resources into our success rather than their own, so it will be nice to be able to relieve them of that duty. And to share the spotlight with them.

When you looked around on that first day and saw the other teams, did you think you had a shot of winning?
Victor: I thought we had a chance but I didn’t think we’d win.
Tammy: All of my life I have been the nerdy girl who can’t play sports and is a weakling. I have no eye-hand coordination. I walked in and saw all these tall athletic people and I thought, “Oh, my Lord! What have we gotten ourselves into?”

How much of your success can be attributed to playing the game and how much of it is luck?
Tammy: There is a lot of luck in it. But The Amazing Race doesn’t just test one thing. It doesn’t just test physical ability or language skills or sense of direction or brains. It tests all kinds of things and I think Victor and I just persevered.
Victor: I think it helped a lot to recognize — and we learned this in Romania — that there will be good and bad days. Sometimes you have a great cab driver and sometimes they get lost. There will be challenges that are right in your wheelhouse, like speaking Chinese, and there will be some that you will struggle with like swimming.

A lot of people felt it was an unfair advantage that you spent three legs in a country where you speak the language. Do you agree or disagree?
Victor: There is no question that speaking Chinese to waiters was completely within our nerdy abilities. The route is set in advance and they have no idea who will make it to what leg. But it balances out because there are so many different tasks and everyone has different strengths.

What was the most difficult task? Most fun?
Tammy: The cartwheel was the worst. The Thai party taxi was the most fun. I loved karaoke-ing through the streets of Bangkok with the lady boys.
Victor: I still don’t think the stuntmen realized they were trannies. The physical strength tasks were very hard for us like the cheese hill and carrying the pig.

What is the first thing you will buy or do with the million?
Tammy: I took my entire law school education out in loans so I will be paying that back. It would have taken me 10 years of working to pay those back so it will be nice to not be saddled with such an enormous debt. I have been coveting a pair of black peeptoe Christian Louboutins.
Victor: I’ve decided to bail out Citibank. Just kidding but I did email my banker today to say that I could pay down my line of credit and take care of debt.

Would you recommend doing the show to others?
Tammy: Absolutely. It was the experience of a lifetime.
Victor: I have watched since season 1 as a couch potato who said, “Wow that’d be fun. I should go there and do that.” If it wasn’t for Tammy saying we should apply, I’d still be sitting there. But one of the biggest lessons I learned was that you don’t need a reality show for this to be your reality.


Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

http://tvwatch.people.com/2009/05/11/the-amazing-race-winners-on-spending-1-million-prize/?xid=rss-topheadlines

[TARAsia Fan]

Tammy & Victor are on Reege and Kelly today. If someone has a DVR or DVD recorder (puddin??), you might be able to get that. I'll see if I can transcribe the interview.

[puddin]

Tammy & Victor are on Reege and Kelly today. If someone has a DVR or DVD recorder (puddin??), you might be able to get that. I'll see if I can transcribe the interview.

Too late Ken ...sorry!

[TARAsia Fan]

That's ok. Perhaps someone put it up on YouTube.

[gator27]

Way to go Tammy & Victor.  Champs of TAR14 - a season of sportsmanship and collegiality (minus the cluebox bumping incident)

[TARAsia Fan]

Tammy & Victor will be on Bonnie Hunt tomorrow. Check your local listings.

[puddin]

Tammy & Victor will be on Bonnie Hunt tomorrow. Check your local listings.

oh she changed it from Friday?

eta: from her website
http://www.bonniehunt.com/promos/friday_may_15th_-_tori_spelling_dean_mcdermott.php

[puddin]

Amazing Race 14′: Chats with winners and others at season’s end

Though they were behind most of last night’s episode, the brother-sister team of Tammy and Victor Jih ended up winning the 14th season of “The Amazing Race.”
Both are Harvard-educated attorneys — Victor, 35, works in Century City and Tammy, 26, in San Francisco — who started Season 14 with Victor taking on the role of big brother, bossing his little sister around. But when he led them on the wrong path in Romania, Victor finally realized his sister was a grown-up and the two became strong collaborators.
Here’s a conversation we had with them Monday.
Q: Congratulations!
Tammy and Victor: Thank you.

Q: What was so interesting about you two is that your relationship changed so much during the course of the race.

Victor: Originally, my mom, when she heard that we wanted to go on the show, she said, “Why would you ever want to do that?” And the first thing she told us when we went was “just don’t fight with each other.” After the show, we came on home and we got along fine. It has been great for her and my dad to watch it and she thinks it’s been great for us, even though it’s embarrassing at times; they said, “How often do you get to put a mirror or yourself and see yourself as other people see you?” They have actually enjoyed it as a growing experience for us.:
Q: Why did you decide to do the race?
Tammy: I think we both did the race because it is an incredible adventure and an opportunity to step outside of our normal lives. We both work incredibly hard and have routine lives. This is an opportunity to travel the world and meet people, challenge ourselves and do things we are not good at and the chance to do it together.
Victor: One of my main objectives was to mix up my life a little bit. I think I have always done what I was supposed to do and having gone from school to the work world, you sort of fall into the routine. What is go great about “The Amazing Race” is it allows people to actually think about: “Wouldn’t it be crazy if I did this?” I just loved the idea of putting myself out of my comfort zone.
Q: Were you athletic before the race?
Victor: We were labeled as “reasonably athletic.” I was real young when I was in high school. I think I was 16 when I graduated from high school. I couldn’t run; I was always the last picked. I think my dad always told my sister and me that we were not blessed with athletic genes and I think we both realized we are more fit and capable of physical things than we thought we were.
Tammy: For me growing up, P.E. was my hardest class, as embarrassing as that is. As I’ve gotten older, I love yoga and that has really increased my strength. but compared to people like Margie and Luke and Jennifer and Kisha who are in incredible shape, I don’t think we were as strong as them, but we were in good enough shape to keep up with them.”
Q: Are you back at work?
Victor: It’s back to the grind probably starting tomorrow.


http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/amazing-race-14-chat-4491/

[puddin]

Amazing Race Winners Tammy and Victor stop by TV Guide Magazines Cubicle Confessions to talk about Jaime & Cara, their favorite TV Shows and Victor's speedo.

[puddin]

Exclusive: Victor and Tammy Jih talk about 'The Amazing Race' win

   
By Reality TV World staff, 05/12/2009

After racing more than 40,000 miles, Victor and Tammy Jih's The Amazing Race hopes seemed to get dashed when they fell into third place midway through the Race's final leg in Maui, Hawaii.


However a sharp memory eventually allowed Victor, a 35-year-old lawyer from Los Angeles, CA, to come back from behind and complete the Race's final Roadblock task ahead of both of his competitors, resulting in he and his sister Tammy, a 26-year-old lawyer from San Francisco, CA, winning the show's $1,000,000 prize.

On Monday, the newly-revealed The Amazing Race winners spoke to Reality TV World about how Victor managed to solve the final Roadblock so fast, when they began to realize they still had a shot at winning the competition, when happened during their memorable meltdown in Romania, and what they plan to do with their prize winnings.
 


Reality TV World: First off, congratulations

Victor and Tammy: (in unison) Thank you!

Victor: We're ah, still a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.  It's nice that the secret can finally come out. 

Reality TV World: Have you guys gotten a chance to get any sleep since the finale party last night yet?

Tammy: We did sleep some, but yeah, we're definitely exhausted.

Victor: Yeah, we didn't party all night...

Tammy: We're old... (laughs)

Victor: Yeah, by 2AM I was like 'Wow, this is really late for me,' so I went to bed

(both laugh)

Tammy: ...which is extra sad when you think about the fact that we just came from the West Coast [where the time is three hours earlier]  (laughs)

Reality TV World: So how hard a time did you guys actually have keeping [the secret] from your friends and family?  It had been since [about] Thanksgiving, right?

Victor: Yeah, the show wrapped literally the day before Thanksgiving.  At the beginning it was very difficult because we had just done this super-exciting thing. It wasn't even a question of telling them what happened, for a lot of our friends they were just curious where we were and we couldn't say anything. 

But once [the cast] was released and people knew that we were on The Amazing Race it became more of a sport.  It was sort of fun to play with their minds, to throw false clues and have them thing that you, know, we were about to be eliminated in Leg #2.

Especially my mom and dad.  My dad loved reading the Internet spoilers and sites like Reality TV World and he would constantly call us and say 'So I've figured it out, you must have been eliminated this week.'

(both laugh)

Reality TV World: So you guys were born nine years apart and are living in different cities now.  When was the last time you had actually spent that much time together?

Tammy: I don't think we've ever spent that much time together.  Victor left for college when I think I was in the second or third grade, so I really don't even remember living with him growing up.  And we've certainly never traveled together for four weeks, much less traveled in a situation where we were each other's only allies and only partners and he was the only person that I could trust and talk to.

Reality TV World: [The Amazing Race] host Phil Keoghan has made a couple of comments about how you guys are really intelligent but seem to lack some basic life skills...

Victor: I'm challenging Phil...

Reality TV World: I think he even used the 'I wouldn't want them to change my flat tire' line on The Early Show again this morning

Victor and Tammy: (laugh in unison)

Victor: You know it's funny because, you know being a lawyer one of my clients actually stumbled upon Phil during his bike ride across the country and met him at one of the GNC stores in Pittsburgh.  And the first thing Phil said to her when he found out she actually knew who I was 'Yeah, that Victor, he's smart but he can't change a tire.'

(Tammy laughs)

And I was like 'Phil!'  He's like bad-mouthing me across the Midwest.

Reality TV World: Well he did it in Baltimore as well...

(both laugh)

Victor: Yeah, I heard about that too, and so I told Phil 'You know when we go back to L. A. I'm going to  challenge you to a tire-changing contest.(laughs)

Tammy: And I  will watch them as I sip martinis, because who am I kidding?  I know how to change a tire but I would much prefer to have someone else do it for me (laughs)

Victor: I told my friends though and the immediate answer was 'Victor, calling AAA doesn't count.'

(both laugh)

Reality TV World: So you guys don't take any offense to it or anything?

Tammy: I don't take any offense to it.  I grew up being a total nerd.  I was super unathletic, and I was never good at the practical things.  And I think if anything, I felt like the Race proved to me that I'm much better at these things than I thought I was. 

And of course compared to an athlete or somebody who just had different life experiences that just aren't as like, academically focused, [we aren't as good] but I thought we did very well.

Victor: One of the reasons I actually loved The Amazing Race -- and frankly, one of the primary reasons I wanted to do The Amazing Race -- was because it forces you to do things you don't like to do and to do things you're not good at.

In fact, when we were preparing for the race, we didn't know it was going to be on this particular The Amazing Race, we just said 'Let's practice doing things we're not good at' and getting out of some of that comfort zone that's so much fun.

So I'm fully aware that we have strengths and we have weaknesses.

Tammy: We have many weaknesses.... (laughs)

Victor: You know that's what's funny.  Frankly, walking out of it, watching Tammy do a cartwheel was one of my favorite moments of the show, and actually seeing Tammy do things she never thought she could do like lift a pig

(Tammy laughs)

Victor: That was a defining moment

Tammy: I never thought I could do that because I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would HAVE to do that

Reality TV World: Speaking of some of those strengths there, there have obviously been cases on some of the previous seasons where Spanish-speaking teams spent the first few legs having the advantage of being in South America or [Central America], but I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've ever had a season where a team got to spend three of the last four legs in a country where they had the sole advantage of knowing the local language.   

The course was obviously planned ahead of time and I know you guys had been doing pretty well and [placing] near the top of the pack [before that] but that had to obviously be a pretty big advantage for you, correct?

Tammy: I think it was advantageous because it gave Victor and I a sense of ease. We knew, at the very least, that if our cab driver didn't know where he was going we could understand that he didn't know where he was going.  We were just able to joke with the locals and just interact with the culture in a way that I think some of the other teams weren't able to. 

That said, the results also speak for themselves.  The first two legs in China, we didn't do much better than anybody else.  You know we did not come in first, and that's because the race isn't designed to just test your language skills, it's designed to test so much more.  I may speak Chinese, but I can't jump off a diving board at the same time as my brother and I certainly don't swim as fast as Margie and Luke.

Victor: Yeah, that's what I actually loved about even those legs in China.  I think that really showcased just how great certain teams are at certain things.  I mean Margie and Luke were swimmers that none of us could have touched.  In Guilen, when we were racing for the mat, Jen and Kisha were runners that none of us can touch. 

Tammy: And in Guilen as well, Jaime and Cara knew how to do the choreography for the dance

Victor: ...that none of us would be able to touch.

Tammy: Well I promise you if you had seen Victor and me do that we would not be here today (laughs)

Victor: We were sort of happy that, okay, you know what, on the ["Chinese Waiter"] task, we got to speak Chinese. That said though, Jen and Kisha did that task amazingly well

Tammy: They really did...

Victor: We were very proud of them.  They did the whole thing in like 15 minutes

Reality TV World: Yeah, that's what  they said [in their Reality TV World interview] last week

Victor: ...it caused them no problems at all.

Reality TV World: Talking about one of those weaknesses, going back to that pig-carrying task in Maui, obviously it didn't look like those pigs [were actually going to be getting served after that] so was there a rule that you couldn't just drag them [down] the beach [as you walked]?

Tammy: There was a rule that you could not drag the pig along the sand, it had to be up in the air the entire time as you were moving it forward.  Obviously if you had to drop it, you dropped it.

You couldn't float it in the water either.

Victor: Yeah, they said that too.  But the impossible -- there was no way we could carry it the entire time, without dropping it.

Tammy: You know, we watched [the finale] last night with our parents, or I watched it with my parents sitting directly behind me.  And they were watching the pig task and I could tell they were getting super frustrated -- they [still] didn't know the end result -- [so] they were getting very frustrated and they kept whispering to each other 'Victor and Tammy, they're so stupid, they don't see like Margie and Luke [that] the best way to do it is to just throw it on your shoulder and run with it!'

And at some point I just had to turn around and to them and just say 'Please stop talking.' We knew that we needed to put it on our shoulders.  I squatted down, put the pig on my shoulder and then couldn't stand up! (laughs)

Victor: She couldn't move!  So then I said, okay, we have no choice but to do it this way.

Reality TV World: There was a point where you guys actually left that jet ski [location] in last place.  Did you think you still had a shot at finishing first at that point?

Victor: That cab ride, after the jet ski, it took probably 30 minutes.  I mean we were literally on what I called 'turtle time.'

Tammy: We called it 'island time,' or rather that's what our taxi cab driver called it

Victor: Yeah, there was a couple in front of us that, they were clearly locals and knew were in a rush [and] didn't care, they were just going to take their time and saunter along.  That was the longest cab ride.  And both of us knew we were way behind. Both of us thought we were in third place.

I was frankly quietly making peace with coming in third and just actually feeling really good thoughts about Margie and Luke and about Jaime and Cara -- look, either way it'd be great for them to win, and they deserved it.  And in the back of my head I thought 'You know, they only chance we have is if is I need a mental stumper that's just really, really, really, really hard and so at least have a shot,' and it just lucked out.

I mean when I saw that final task and saw that Luke was still there and that Jaime and Cara were not even there yet it didn't better how far ahead Luke was, it was a huge relief because the race wasn't over yet.

Reality TV World: Yeah, it looked like given the show has used that type of [previous leg] memory task at the end [of seasons] before, it looked like you guys had been anticipating that had been coming and had been studying in advance, was that the case?

Tammy: Oh yeah, I mean Victor and I are nerds at heart, you know?  Every night after a leg we would sit down and write down everything we saw.

If we did a task we would write down every prop that we used.  We even wrote down the flag of every country, including the colors.  And the currencies.  And the exchange rate.  And you know when Phil checked us in at the mat we would write down what the greeter looked like that was next to him, including the props they had.  You know in India he had the nose flute and in one of the Thailand legs it was a parrot, no [wait], that was in Bangkok.

We were definitely prepared and we knew that Victor would do it because he's very, very good under pressure in tasks like that and on the flight -- was it from O'ahu, I can't remember -- from O'ahu to Maui, Victor and I prepared. I quizzed him. I took out the booklet and I quizzed him and I knew that if Luke gave him the chance victor could pull it through.

Victor: I'm still shocked though.  Because every racer, even from Day 1, knew that Luke was the person who knew the Race in and out.  And that Luke was the one who -- there was no question that Luke was going to be the one who was going to do the final Roadblock [for his team].  I mean he started preparing for the final Roadblock in Leg 1 of the entire race (laughs)

And I think we were just fortunate that he got stumped and then just got a little frustrated and that allowed us to have a chance.  But we knew he was formidable competition.  I was still believing that a mental task would be difficult, especially against Luke.  We're just fortunate the finale task wasn't like [doing] cartwheels.

Reality TV World: So when did you finally begin thinking you had a chance, when you kind of pulled up even with him?

Victor: Well when I saw he was still there.  I mean I instantly saw that he had nine out of 11 of the surfboards so I thought 'Okay, whatever, I'll just start doing it' and then with each passing moment I saw that he was still there -- I didn't really want to focus on him, but I knew that he was still there -- I said 'You know what, he's stuck somehow [so] there's no reason why I can't do this. 

And you know, hope grows at that moment, and even as we were leaving in the taxi from the Roadblock, that's when I started thinking it -- I know my sister started, and you could see it on the show last night, my sister started believing it.  But even then I said 'Okay, you never know, we might get lost, you never know

(Tammy laughs)

But I think it was at that moment that we believed that we could actually win the whole thing.

Reality TV World: Victor, it was kind of hard to tell, but you actually seemed to take a little riskier approach of pulling the boards out [of the piles all the teams were sharing] but not immediately taking them over to your [own mounting] area.  Were you ever worried that Luke or Jamie were going to be able to see some of the board [symbols] you had floating around out there?

Victor: Well you know, one, I wasn't really focused on either of them in terms of what I was doing, [and two,] what I didn't, I actually didn't think about it.  You know I was sort of pulling the boards over and putting them in a pile just so I didn't have to keep running stand them up the whole time, because I felt like the first thing to do was to get as many of the different ones as I could. 

I don't know that that would have helped them, you know it was in such a jumbled pile anyway.(laughs)

Reality TV World: So just to make sure it's clear, there was a huge pile of 300 and something surfboards, and what was it, there were three of each leg's [correct] symbol in that pile?

Victor: Yeah, three of each symbol and then a bunch of other symbols -- the vast majority of which had nothing to do with our race

Tammy: ...right, including the alligator that Jaime wanted you to use (laughs)

Victor:  Yeah... that's right.  Because in some ways I think this was smart on the race designers' part, they were symbols of things that make have come from prior seasons, like Season 13, Season 12, etc.  And that starts playing with your mind because you're looking at thing after thing that you don't recognize and you start questioning whether or not you just forgot something and then something like an alligator starts looking familiar.

And I think that's what happens, especially maybe for Luke when he was stuck on the last one.

Tammy: And I think that's just a testament to Victor and why I think he's so good at these kinds of tasks.  He doesn't doubt himself when it matters.  You know sometimes that leads us astray like in Romania (both laugh)

But other times that's exactly what you need and I think Luke knew the information and I know in his heart of hearts in a calm situation he could bang out all of those answers.  It was just the calm under pressure that Victor has that I think that really gave us a win at the end of the day.

Reality TV World: Victor, I'm sure you've been getting ribbed about it for months now, but exactly what happened in Romania?

(both laugh)

Victor: Um, stubbornness, pride, hubris... (Tammy laughs)

No, you know, I think what I learned from the Romania leg is I felt a lot of responsibility going into the Romania leg that I had to carry my sister.  That sounds so insulting but like, after 26 years of me being nine years -- you know I've always been nine years older than my sister...

Tammy: ... that's what happens

Victor: ...and that will never change.  I've always been the person who is supposed to like -- she lived off my credit cards when she was in college -- and she was the person I had to teach certain things.  I coached her in debate and you know, I've always been sort of the teacher and the coach for her and ultimately, if things go wrong, [I had] to be responsible for her. 

And I felt the responsibility and I felt like I didn't have the option to be wrong.  And I felt like I didn't have the option not to know the right answer, even given her doubts.

And I think what I learned in the leg was one, you know obviously I can be wrong, I always knew that, but I just felt like it was my sole responsibility to know if I was right or wrong and I learned from that [is] that you can't win the race by yourself and the race has to be two people.  And we learned how to better communicate.  Tammy I think discovered her voice a little bit on that leg and I think it just helped us interact a little better and get on common ground.

Tammy: Yeah, I think that leg taught me that I do need to speak up.  But it also taught me that I have an unfair expectation of Victor because I want him to have the right answer all the time also.  And even if I know he's wrong I still want HIM to figure it out because it just sort of blows my whole world apart if he's not the one who has the right answer because all of my life you know that's been who he is for me. 

And I do think that I found my voice a little bit in that leg.  But I also knew that we've had the same relationship for 26-27 years and you're not going to change that in four weeks and what we need to do is learn how to cooperate better.  And if that means Victor saying something that slightly obnoxious to me or very obnoxious to mw and I think not is not the time to have a fight, I'm not going to speak up because I want to win and I want to move forward.

Reality TV World: So you think that's why it took you -- I don't know exactly, what was it, 2-3 hours you were out there?

Tammy: Two and a half hours heading uphill and then two hours back down, it was a very long time (Victor laughs)

Reality TV World: ...so the time going uphill is [what passed before] you finally put your foot down and said 'No more,' correct?

Tammy: Yes, I said a couple of times 'I don't think this is right, I don't think this is right' but there was just something so -- a sense of urgency in Victor's face and in his voice, he just needed this to be right so badly.  You know it was just a very emotionally intense moment for us and I don't think I really knew what to do.  I definitely didn't think he was right and I kind of just, you know, thought 'Already, this is it, we've going to lose and I'm going to follow Victor to the next country up this mountain' (laughs)

Victor: There was a little bit of a -- this was amusing, unfortunately it didn't air.  We literally had our own -- we're both high school debaters so we had a little debate.  Like we would give the three reasons why I believed we should keep going and she would give four reasons why she thought we should go back and we'd look at each other and go 'Okay, so how do we resolve the arguments, we're at an impasse, let's keep going.' (laughs)

Tammy: And of course the whole time our cameraman and are sound man are looking at us with like daggers in their eyes as you know, they are the only crew that had to hike up the mountain with us (laughs)

Victor: They were very upset at us but I basically said 'Look, you could have told us to go back' (laughs)

Reality TV World: How did you end up on the Race, who's idea was it and why?

Victor: Tammy's.  Because I have always watched The Amazing Race since Season 1 and loved it but it took someone like Tammy to say 'You know what, why don't we do it.'  It was her idea to actually take the steps to apply.

Reality TV World: Any plans for any of the prize money yet?

Tammy: Um, I have to buy myself a pair of fancy shoes but other than that I'm going to be very responsible and pay off my law school loans. 

Reality TV World: Victor?

Victor: Um, I'm planning to help bail out Citibank and pay back some debt (laughs)

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-victor-and-tammy-jih-talk-about-the-amazing-race-win-8947.php

[puddin]

Amazing Race's Tammy and Victor: The Win Is for the Nerds — and Mom

The power of attorneys reigned supreme on the season finale of The Amazing Race 14 as siblings/lawyers Tammy and Victor Jih claimed the $1 million. "It's been overwhelming. It's also bittersweet because we had a lot of fun sort of playing with the minds of our family and friends over how we did because we could lord the secret over them!" Victor tells TVGuide.com. See what else the pair has to say about their come-from-behind victory, whether they had an unfair advantage in China and what they plan to do with their new windfall.

Also, check back Tuesday for our interviews with Cara and Jaime, and Margie and Luke.

TVGuide.com: Is your family relieved you didn't bring shame to them on the China legs?
Tammy: [Laughs] They are very, very happy! Let's be honest, they would've been proud of us no matter the outcome, but they were extra-proud of us because of the outcome.

TVGuide.com: There's been a lot of talk that it was unfair you knew Mandarin in China, but producers couldn't have possibly known you would've made it that far.
Victor: Yeah, we almost were out in Leg 3! When we looked at the teams on Day 1, we were astonished at how competitive, articulate, athletic and tall they were. Everyone has their strengths and we didn't think anyone was a sure thing and we needed a task that was easier for us. The choreography task — none of us even touched it because we said we are not playing against Jaime and Cara, who are trained dancers. It just took us the entire Race before we got our task.

TVGuide.com: Do you think people forget that even though you could communicate with people in Mandarin, you were still at the mercy of the tasks? The dive/swim took you guys a while.
Victor: We dived for a really long time. And even getting to the foot-massage place, we talked to the taxi driver fine, but when we arrived, we were the last ones there. ... I was just proud because we were both born in the United States, lived in the United States our entire lives, and every day of our childhood was a fight with our mom, forcing us to speak Chinese. I went to kindergarten not knowing how to say "Can I go to the bathroom?" in English. I think it's great to vindicate all of her efforts and take advantage of it.
Tammy: She dealt with our temper tantrums all the time. We just wanted to speak English like everyone else and she forced us to speak Chinese at home and it paid off and it was wonderful that it paid off on Mother's Day [when the episode aired].
Victor: If only my mom forced my sister to practice cartwheels, carry a pig... [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: It seemed like you learned from your meltdown in Romania. How did you approach the Race differently?
Tammy: We learned we needed to put aside our issues and work together as teammates. Does that mean we didn't have issues? No. We saved it for after the leg or waiting in airports.

TVGuide.com: Did you think, being stuck behind the car on the highway and in third place, that you lost and Margie and Luke could've left the Roadblock already?
Victor: I was emotionally happy, like I'm happy for either if they win. Both of them are great competitors. I was preparing to be in third. Part of me thought there was a glimmer of hope. I just need there to be another task, I just need something nerdy and suitable for us because we're total nerds, and I need it to be really hard so that they get stuck on it. No one could've predicted for what happened at the Roadblock to happen — especially for Luke. He was born for The Amazing Race. It was tough watching it with him because it really should've been his task. We did not underestimate him at all. It took me about 20 or 30 minutes. Just physically moving them around took a long time. Luckily, I was thinking clearly.
Tammy: I think we both resigned ourselves to finishing third at that point, but Victor just breezed through that. He's really good under pressure and with problem-solving.

TVGuide.com: Were you certain you had it in the bag when you got into the cab?
Tammy: When we first got in, we were so shocked that we go from resigned to losing to going to thinking we might have a chance we might win. Victor did bring us back to reality by saying they're strong teams and anything could happen.
Victor: There was a hidden task that wasn't aired. We had to find this statue and it took us a little bit to find that, and it was a little bit of a drive to the golf course. We were cautiously optimistic.

TVGuide.com: You said Margie and Luke were tough competitors, so why didn't you U-Turn them?
Tammy: It's a nerdy answer, but I thought that even though Margie and Luke were stronger overall, I didn't think they had a competitive edge over us in any way. Jen and Kisha, I mean, look at them. They are Division I athletes. They are incredibly athletic. They outran us twice in the legs coming up to the U-Turn.
Victor: We talked about it the night before. Tammy very wisely said, "Let's not make it personal." Because we liked all the teams and we made it purely based on strategy.

TVGuide.com: What are you going to do with your $1 million?
Tammy: I'm going to pay off my law school loans! [Laughs] I might buy myself a treat here and there, but most of it is going to my student loans.
Victor: It's not a fun answer, but in this economy, we're lucky to be in the position we're in.

TVGuide.com: What's next for you? Back to work on more cases?
Victor: Oh, yeah, back to work. We got away, but I love my job and we're so grateful they let us do this. I think going away and doing something so crazy just makes you appreciate what you have on a daily basis and what we have is awesome.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Amazing-Races-Tammy-1005983.aspx

[puddin]

Tammy and Victor win The Amazing Race
 
Brother-and-sister team Victor and Tammy Jih traveled more than 40,000 miles through nine countries on three continents (not counting the treks during the final episode!) to win the 14th season of The Amazing Race. "It's still so surreal," Tammy tells In Touch about winning the $1 million prize. "It's fantastic to finally be able to share this with our family and friends," says Victor. While the win hasn't necessarily sunk in yet, Tammy does know exactly what she's going to do with the money. "I've had my eye on a pair of black peep-toe Christian Louboutins," she admits. "Other than that, I have to pay off my law school loan."


Was it hard to keep it from your family all season?
Tammy: I had a lot of fun keeping it a secret. It was driving our parents and other brother nuts. Every day, my parents would call and try to trick me somehow. They'd say, "Oh, I saw on a spoiler that the Race goes to China. Was it cold in China?" And I'd say, "'I'm not telling you. I don't know if it was cold in China or not." I had a lot of fun with it.

Do you feel like you lucked out going to China?
Victor: There was a lot of pressure associated with China, as well as relief. Our parents spent all of our childhood fighting with us to learn Chinese, since we were born in the United States. So we knew that it would be so embarrassing in China if we screwed up. But, on the other hand, it was just great. It was such a relief to be able to be comfortable, to joke around with people and to feel like we were doing our parents proud.
Tammy: I think our parents have been vindicated, and they know it.

At what point during the race did you know you really could win this?
Victor: Not until right before the roadblock. Because, being a fan of all of the seasons you know that —
Tammy: — anything can happen.
Victor: Anything. And all of the other teams on this race had their strengths and weaknesses and every one of them was fiercely competitive. I always thought we had a shot. My sister and I fought a lot of times because she just always wanted to not come in last. And I was like "No, you have to believe we can win." But I didn't really believe that we had a shot until I saw the finish line.

How has the race changed your relationship?
Victor: I think Tammy now knows that she should always listen to me.
Tammy: Clearly, Victor has not changed.
Victor: I'm joking.
Tammy: Who are we kidding? We've known each other our whole lives and we've interacted a certain way our whole lives. Four weeks out of 27 years is not going to completely change things. But I think that the race gave me a newfound respect for Victor and it also taught me that if I want him to think of me as an adult I have to act like an adult. And I also can't expect him to always make the decisions and always bear the burden of what comes with that.
Victor: I really learned that The Amazing Race is not about one person winning. It has to be about two people winning. And I think we were lucky that we were able to learn that lesson early in the race, otherwise I don't think we would have done as well as we did. I've always known Tammy was very capable. I've always known she's great at things that I'm not good at, and sometimes I have to get out of teacher mode — being nine years older than her, I'm just used to being a coach or someone who's training her. Trying to switch out of that mode and being constructive was something that I had to learn.

Besides winning, what was your favorite moment on the race?
Victor: Tammy face-planting in India.

Spoken like a true big brother.
Tammy: If you spend a week with me, you'll see me face-plant or walk into a bush or ride my bicycle into a parked car.
Victor: But all joking aside, I thought that it was appropriate that we started the race with this impossible physical task on Cheese Hill and ended the race with this impossible physical task with carrying the pigs. It was hard for Tammy — she had blisters. To watch Tammy be able to do something that she never in a million years thought she could ever do, was just awesome. And I think it was a great way for the race to end for us.
Tammy: My absolute favorite was doing the karaoke task in taxi in Thailand. I just had so much fun. I was dancing up a storm and I really didn't want it to end. And the Thai lady-boys just made it such a blast.
Victor: It's even funnier to watch on TV and see Mike and Mark not know that they were trannies.

So, what do you think is going to be your next amazing race?
Victor: Well, Tammy has claimed the Galapagos trip for her and her boyfriend. I was already uninvited.

Good thing you have some money, now you can buy your own tickets.
Victor: Exactly.
Tammy: Maybe we can race around the world in our new ocean sea kayak.
Victor: I think I'm going to look into a modeling career with Speedo. [laughs]

Permalink | Posted: May 11, 2009
http://www.intouchweekly.com/2009/05/tammy_and_victor_win_the_amazi.php#more

[apskip]

It would be really interesting to find out about that unaired task of finding a statue between the ROADBLOCK and Finish Line. I recommend that those who have the best racer contacts (Peach, that's you) use them to find this out.

There wer 30 whale statues placed all over the island of Maui. I suspect that one of them was involved. Here are those statues for those that are interested:
Maui Whale Statues

One of the sites for several was close to the ROADBLOCK. It is 2 blocks off the Hana Highway:
Mandala Ethnic Arts Inc
29 Baldwin Ave, Paia, HI 96779
(808) 579-9556

My guess is that this was the one chosen if it's whale statues since the other 2 sites are in Kihei(would have been done just before or after the luau if it was here) or Kalani far out of the way.

[ImANewUser]

So, what do you think is going to be your next amazing race?
Victor: Well, Tammy has claimed the Galapagos trip for her and her boyfriend. I was already uninvited.

Glad to see the trip was put to good use.

[TARAsia Fan]

Bro & sis ain't gonna travel together to the Galapagos Islands. I knew it was going to go to one or the other.

[puddin]

An Exclusive U-Turn with Winners Tammy and Victor of The Amazing Race
by Reg Seeton
The 14th season of The Amazing Race was another worldwide nail-biter of a footrace finish, as the final three teams of Tammy and Victor, Jaime and Cara, and Margie and Luke touched down in Maui for the final leg. Although the teams started The Amazing Race at a fast pace by bungee jumping through Switzerland and then racing on through Austria, Romania, India, Thailand, and China, the laid back vibe of Hawaii posed an unexpected challenge on the road to the million dollar prize.

After running a consistent and amazing race, the brother and sister legal team of Tammy and Victor Jih found themselves struggling to keep up with mother and son duo, Margie and Luke, while trying to carry a full-grown pig across a beach in Maui. Despite battling the weight of an Amazing Race bovine to make up time on a streaking Margie and Luke, Tammy and Victor then found themselves at the mercy of the slow pace of Maui traffic inside a taxi cab, which forced them to reflect on the fact that they would have to accept either second or third place of The Amazing Race.

However, when Tammy and Victor reached the final Road Block where Luke was assembling a series of surfboards with cryptic images in order of the countries they raced through, Victor was able to catch up to Luke who got stymied by the final two pictures on the last two boards. As a result of Luke's momentary confusion, which eroded a hefty 30-minute lead, Victor snapped in the final two surfboards and both he and Tammy cruised to victory as the Season 14 winners of The Amazing race.

The morning after Tammy and Victor crossed the finish line to become the Season 14 millionaire winners of The Amazing Race, we raced to the phone with coffee in hand for an exclusive one-on-one chat with the brother and sister lawyers from California to get their thoughts on life post-Amazing Race, how they handled the challenges of the final leg in Maui, how they were able to stay focused while other teams clashed, their approach to strategy, and how the Romanian hills had a positive affect on Victor and whether they're looking to life as celebrity Amazing Race lawyers.

THE DEADBOLT: So, Victor, how have the hills of Romania changed your outlook on life?

VICTOR JIH: [laughs] I don’t ever want to go to Romania again. No, I’m just kidding. You know, it as hard. I mean, Romania was all about me feeling responsible for the entire outcome of the race and I put it all on my own shoulders and I really learned from that, that I didn’t need to be that and that there were two of us. Not only did I have the luxury of having Tammy there, but I needed her there and the two of us needed to do it together.

THE DEADBOLT: Tammy, how did the race test you in similar ways?

TAMMY JIH: I think the race tested me in that I have to be more confident with myself on numerous levels. I mean, I grew up the nerdy, unathletic girl who was always picked last for teams and my hardest class growing up was always P.E.. So just going through a race that was so physical and having confidence in myself and dealing with Victor’s encouragement, which I sometimes thought was discouragement, that helped. I grew a lot in that way, that I needed to struggle through things, work hard, and have faith in myself.

In terms of my relationship with Victor, I went into it thinking I want Victor to view me as an equal, to stop treating me as a baby, and to see me as an adult. But if I want that, I need to start acting like an adult, and to act like an adult means that I need to voice my opinion, to take responsibility and make decisions as well.

VICTOR: Yeah. The race itself was sort of like nightmare after nightmare, because there were so many things that we were just never going to be good at. You know, the cheese hill and the gymnastics and the synchronized diving and swimming and then the pig. It really was a growing experience in both learning how to do things we were really horrible at and learn how to encourage each other in a stressful situation, and to be able to hear that as something constructive.

THE DEADBOLT: So, did you guys think it was all over when you were in the cab in Maui?

TAMMY: Oh, definitely.

VICTOR: Oh, yeah. I mean, we just stopped talking. And we were both just sort of contemplating and being thankful for being on the race. I literally was already in my head feeling happy for either Margie and Luke or Jamie and Cara for winning, and I know Tammy was really happy. You know what? We did a really good job and we were 30 minutes behind, but once I got there - and even though Luke had nine out of eleven done - the fact that they were still there, instantly I was like, ‘You know what? We’re still in it.’ And everything went from there.

THE DEADBOLT: How hard was it for you to sink back into the pace of normal life when it was all over?

TAMMY: You know, it was very strange. But the whole time we were gone for the race - I think it was about four-plus weeks - we didn’t have our Blackberries, and we’re lawyers and we fit the lawyer stereotype in that we are addicted to our Blackberries. And just coming back to normal life and being reunited with my Blackberry and being reachable at all hours, that was certainly a culture shock for me.

VICTOR: We both dived right back into normal life. I actually was sort of looking forward to it. The first thing I wanted when I got back was my Blackberry. Look, the race was this forced kind of rest from your normal life. You can’t even interact with anyone you know or anything you do. That was great, but it also made me appreciate how much I like my life and how blessed I was. It wasn’t something I was dreading at all, it was something actually very nice to get back to.

THE DEADBOLT: Even though you spoke the language in China, how did it challenge you guys?

VICTOR: Well, certainly speaking the language didn’t help us with the birds and didn’t help us with diving.

TAMMY: Those birds didn’t speak neither English or Chinese.

VICTOR: The Chinese language really helped us at least enjoy the leg in China, which I thought I’m just really thankful for because we were able to joke around with the locals. And even though they wouldn’t cheat and give us an advantage, we didn’t expect them to anyway [laughs]. That was great, but we felt like it was finally time for us to have a task that was designed for us. Obviously not on purpose, but Luke and Margie had their swimming, Jamie and Cara had their dancing, as trained dancers, Jen and Kisha got to run really fast at the pit stop and steal the trip ... No, I’m kidding.

TAMMY: And Kris and Preston, obviously the beasts of the race, got to do the heavy lifting both in Romania and on "cheese hill".

VICTOR: And we were never going to be doing something like that. It was just like, wow, it took until Leg 11 before we got a task that was made easy for us.

THE DEADBOLT: So, what does a scorpion taste like?

VICTOR: You know what? I just did not even want to think about it. Watching is ten times worse than actually doing it. I just blocked it out of my mind and just chewed. The worst, though, was the beetle larva. That’s the worst because it’s crunchy on the outside and sort of spongy on the inside and it’s so big you have to just chew it. That was probably the worst part.

THE DEADBOLT: Was it a tough decision to use the U-Turn?

TAMMY: I think it was a tough decision throughout the race, because Victor and I knew going into the race that there were probably two or three U-Turns and we discussed it the whole time. And going into the race I was very hesitant to use it at all just on principle. And then, as we got closer toward each leg with U-Turns, we troubled over whether we would use it, who we would use it on, but then when we decided to use that final U-Turn. We discussed it so much that I think we were at peace with our decision.

VICTOR: We were going in circles for the last U-Turn, because deep down it was difficult because we liked all of the teams. We have a little "be more of an informal alliance" with Margie and Luke than Jamie and Cara. But part of that was just the chance of Leg 1 and what airplane we were on, and we really grew to like Jen and Kisha as well. Tammy said, ‘Let’s just not make it personal, because we like all of them, and there’s no way for us to personally say let’s choose this team or this team.’ So we made it purely on the decision of strategy and matchups.

THE DEADBOLT: How did you guys stay focused while some of the other teams were bickering?

VICTOR: We just tried to stay out of it.

TAMMY: Yeah. It was focusing on not making a facial expression, not saying anything, and looking at the ground. We’re talking about when Margie and Luke and Jen and Kisha got into an altercation in China. You know, I knew that both of those teams were exhausted. Both of those teams had been so competitive and just emotions were soaring high and nothing I could do or say would help the situation.

VICTOR: It threw us for a loop a little bit. I don’t know if you recall from that mat but Phil asked us if the teams were going well, and we’re like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s going great. We love each other.’ And instantly they’re like, ‘No we don’t.’

TAMMY: We had no idea that was coming.

THE DEADBOLT: So are you guys treated differently in the courtroom now?

TAMMY: Well, I’m a lowly associate, so I have yet to make a verbal courtroom appearance.

VICTOR: [laughs] The whole thing just happened, so we’re going to have to see. Although it’s a little weird because reality life is one thing and then reality TV life is another. The two are colliding now and I hope there’s a manual on how to deal with that.

THE DEADBOLT: Well you can have fun in the Galapagos.

VICTOR: Oh no, Tammy’s already claimed that and made it very clear she wants to go with her boyfriend instead of me. I won’t be making that journey, but I’ll certainly see pictures of it. [laughs].

http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/105687/victor_tammy_amazing_race_interview.php

[misterblah]

Well I guess that's it. An end to a great season I liked it so much i didn't want it to be over
Congratulations to Tammy and Victor!
Can't wait for TAR15! Hopefully after 14 seasons, the first all-female team will win the race (which I think probably won't happen )

[puddin]

'Amazing Race' Winner Spends It Like He's Got It
Posted May 14th 2009 12:15PM by TMZ Staff

"Amazing Race" winner Victor Jih was chowing down at pricey Koi in L.A. last night, but he wasn't blowing through his million dollar winnings yet -- because dude and his sis still haven't received their checks!


(video at the link, I cannot embed it)

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=c1ac916e-18f5-42af-9365-a292d6e0ef91

[slayton]

The Amazing Race: Tammy and Victor’s Winning Closing Argument
by Sara Bibel

Tammy and Victor started The Amazing Race strong, and, aside from a complete meltdown in Romania, stayed consistent throughout the race. During the finale, the Harvard Law educated siblings struggled with a brute strength task, but scored a come-from-behind victory on a mental task due to Victor’s amazing memory and concentration. The overachievers discussed the secrets to their success, their very practical plans for their winnings, and being forced to wear a lot of very revealing outfits.

How far ahead of everyone were you when reached the finish line?

Victor: We were on the mat for 30 to 45 minutes before Jamie and Cara.

Victor, you rocked the surfboard memory task while everyone else was struggling. What was your secret?

Victor: It was nice because there was ultimately no pressure. I was just so relieved that we even had a shot and that Margie and Luke were still at the task. We had prepared for it. All three teams knew that at some point there would be a “What do you remember about the trip?” task. I just said, “We still have a chance” and I didn’t think about anything else. It was just the adrenalin.


How far behind Margie and Luke were you when you arrived at the challenge?

Tammy: It’s hard to say. But I think from what we’ve gathered about twenty to thirty minutes.

Victor: He had nine of the eleven surfboards already done.



Tammy, how did you feel about the producers making all the women wear those skimpy bikinis in the pig carrying challenge?

Tammy: I was not thrilled with any of the challenges that involved me and spandex or me and a skimpy anything. I got in so much trouble because every time I was in a bathing suit bottom or a white spandex leotard they would have these horrible shots from behind that I knew were going to be unflattering. I kept saying, “Stop filming me from behind. I kept getting yelled at for speaking to the camera man.

Victor: They didn’t show it, but my sister had to pull a lot of weight. It was about 150 pounds, 200 yards in the sand. She had callouses all across her fingers that were bleeding.

Do you think the producers evened the score by giving the men baggy swim trunks that they had to take off during the surf board task?

Victor: Here I am, I’ve lost all of this weight and they give me extra-extra-extra large. What is that? I tried to roll the, They kept falling off. Finally I said, “Forget it. I’m taking them off.”

At what moment during the final leg did you realized you’d won?

Victor: Leaving the surfboard challenge because we knew the other teams were still behind us, that’s when it started sinking in that we might be able to do it. But I kept saying, “You never know. Our cab might get totally lost.” It was such a range of emotions because the cab ride to the surfboard challenge was all about making peace with losing. Leaving it was like, “Can we actually dare to think that we might win this?” We ran fast to the finish line because even then we were like, “They might be right behind us.”

Tammy, why didn’t you put your pants on during the cab ride to the finish line?

Tammy: Because I was so wet. I was so overwhelmed with what was happening. The other thing was I didn’t know how far away from the surfboard task the final mat was so I didn’t want to get caught with one leg in and have to start running.

How did you two manage to become such a cohesive, supportive team after having a complete meltdown in Romania?

Victor: It can’t get any worse than that. There was nowhere to go but up.

Tammy: We talked a lot before the race about how we really wanted to change our relationship going into this race because I wanted Victor to see me as an equal. I realized on the Race that, while I want that, I also really, really, really want to win. I don’t think we can change our 26 year long relationship during this race. I don’t need to fight every single battle. We learned that we have a common goal and when we compromise we really work well together.

How much of an advantage do you think speaking Chinese gave you during the Beijing legs?

Victor: The biggest advantage it gave us was it allowed us to enjoy the China legs, to have some levity and joke around with the locals. We would say, “Put them in the back of the plane,” not that they ever really listened to us. It certainly gave us an advantage in the waiter task. It allowed to get an advantage in terms of getting directions. But at the end of the day, what I like about it is the Race tests so many different dimensions that some people have strength in and some people have weaknesses in. The final was just as difficult for us.

Tammy: I may know how to speak Chinese, but I don’t know how to jump off a diving board very well.

Victor: I thought it was appropriate for everyone at the final to bunch and have to start over. I thought it was appropriate for the final three teams to have one last leg for the win.



What was going through your minds when Luke and Margie got into that blowout fight with Jen and Kisha at the Pit Stop right in front of you?

Tammy: I really was not expecting that to happen. When I was doing the bird task Jennifer mentioned they had some kind of squabble. But my personality is that if I have that kind of squabble I apologize profusely and let it go. I projected and assumed that’s what happened. So when they started to fight I was blown away. I thought, “I need to stay out of this. Look to the ground. No facial expressions. Don’t say anything.”

Victor: The whole time I was trying to use telepathy to talk to Tammy. It was the same thing. “Don’t smile. Don’t look sad. Don’t do anything.”

Tammy: Watching the footage of it is hilarious because there’s Victor staring at the sky and me looking at the ground. That fight went on for a good 45 minutes. I was looking at the ground for a very long time.

Victor: Luke and Margie stepped off the mat two or three times and had to be brought back.

What are you going to do with the million dollars?

Tammy: We sadly don’t have that fun of an answer. I paid for law school with loans. Once I get the money, the money will be going right back to the bank to pay off my loans.

Victor: I’m also paying down debt. I’m going to help bail out Citibank.

Tammy: I have been really, really wanting a pair of nice Christian Louboutin shoes. So I might treat myself.

Which was harder: the Race or 1L at Harvard Law School?

Tammy: The Race.

Victor: I’ll give you another answer: watching the Race. That’s even worse.

What was your favorite task?

Victor: Doing that bungee jump on the first leg. It was so dramatic, such a wild thing to do outside of my comfort zone. It was like diving into the adventure of the whole thing.

Tammy: I loved doing the karaoke party taxi. Victor and I got to let loose, have fun, even though it was a stressful race.

How did going on the Race change your lives?

Victor: That’s a hard question because I feel like we’re still in the middle of it. I feel like my entire life, we’ve done the proper path. We went to undergrad, went to law school, didn’t really take time off in between. We really haven’t taken any risks in our lives. My sister thought about taking a year off before law school and that didn’t happen. For me it was all about doing something completely unexpected, completely out of the ordinary and realizing life can be a lot of fun. Even though the Race is over, there’s no reason why we can’t keep doing crazy things.

Tammy: I hope that life will always be an adventure, like the Race was.

Kynt and Vyxsin are Fancast’s celebrity Amazing Race bloggers. They have this question for you: Guys! Unbelievable performance! The students at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, California sent along several questions for you and we selected this one: Now that you two have proven that your teamwork can move mountains (and make millions!), have you two considered partnering up as attorneys and practicing law together? The Tammy & Victor Law Offices could tag-team ANY case!

Tammy: Absolutely not. I don’t think Victor and I are meant to work together. In our life, Victor has been my teacher. He’s done everything before me. If I were going to partner with somebody on a career level, I’d partner with somebody who would view me as my equal. Victors ten years ahead of me in his career and we’re not at the same place.

Victor: That’s her way of saying I’m way older than she is.

http://www.fancast.com/blogs/tv-news/the-amazing-race-tammy-and-victors-winning-closing-argument/

[puddin]

Tammy and Victor are on Bonnie Hunt right now and they are just adorable! Tammy is pretty in pink!
Bonnie asks them if they were prepared for the memory challenge and Tammy says yes that she knew Victor would nail it.
They thought they lost the race at the pig task, they were 30 minutes behind.
The pig challenge was difficult.
The Romania thing comes up, brothers and sisters yadda yadda big brother issues.
How they learned to work together as a team and no matter what they are still brother and sisters.
Their parents thought they would lose their jobs if they went on the race.
Victor has always been a TAR fan
They talk about the cast party and how they bonded and Jen/Kisha Marge/Luke Cara/Jamie were sad they were not invited to be on Bonnie.
Victor and Tammy tell Bonnie that they have something for her from all the cast and they show a clip of all the teams surrounding Phil at the CBS party in NY and Phil on behalf of TAR thanks her for her support because of her support, more and more fans which means and more and more races.

[NoluckBoston]

I saw this on TMZ

http://www.tmz.com/2009/05/14/amazing-race-winner-spends-it-like-hes-got-it/

[DerekCL]

Victor and Tammy on the Bonnie Hunt Show (credits to traveler224). I wonder why Mark and Michael weren't at the party. I haven't seen pics of them

>

[georgiapeach]

Oh thanks for that link!!
 
Michael had a last minute work commitment that prevented him and his wife from coming. He had planned to be there.

[slayton]

Tammy and Victor 'stunned' over 'Amazing Race' win
Tyrone Warner, CTV.ca

Siblings (and lawyers) Tammy and Victor Jih are the latest team to take home the million dollar prize on "The Amazing Race."


The race pits teams against one another as they travel around the world in a quest that challenges the mind, body and spirit.


The winners spoke to CTV.ca about their victory.


CTV.ca: Congratulations on your stunning win!


Victor: I think "stunning" is an appropriate work after seeing how that last leg turned out!


Tammy: We were stunned!


CTV.ca: Tell me, what did it feel like when you were rushing towards that final mat?


Tammy: I felt overwhelmed. We thought we were behind, Margie and Luke seemed like they had such a lead on us. It wasn't until we were leaving that last roadblock that we thought we had a chance at winning.


Victor: Both the cab ride to the last task and the ride away from the last task were the quietest rides we had during the show. The camera crews were asking us, "Um, are you going to say anything?" We were either preparing to lose, or preparing for the possibility we could win.


CTV.ca: What's your relationship like now after the race?


Tammy: The best part about doing the race with a sibling is that no matter what happens, good or bad, when you go home, you're still siblings. Our relationship is stronger, but we were glad that we could finally have some space from each other!


Victor: I should make it clear that she wants one of the big trips, and not with me!


Tammy: We both decided that if we won two trips, we would take them separately!


CTV.ca: There was anything that you regret in the way you treated each other?


Victor: Obviously, my big regret was Romania. I think early on in the show, in stressful situations, my eye was on the prize, it was easy to focus on that at the expense of my sister, regardless of how she was feeling in general.


CTV.ca: Did you get a different perspective when you watched it back on the show?


Victor: Watching yourself on TV is an adventure in itself!


CTV.ca: What has reaction been like from your fans?


Victor: Sometimes I'll be walking down the street, especially in airports, and people always scream out at me, "Victor, be nicer to your sister!" It makes me wonder, how come people don't yell out, "Tammy, listen to your brother!" Absolutely nobody.


CTV.ca: What was it like spending so much time racing in China?


Tammy: I feel that we were so fortunate to visit China on this race. It made our parents so proud to see that, that despite being born and raised in America, that they taught us enough that we'd be comfortable in a place that we'd never live in. Being able to communicate with the locals gave us a sense of ease, but despite that, the first two legs, we still didn't come in first. The race still plays to many different strengths.


Victor: I was glad to have a task that played to our strengths!


CTV.ca: Did you have more incentive to do well, because you didn't want to be the team that was eliminated in China?


Victor: There was a lot of pressure. The whole time I was thinking, "How embarrassing would it be to lose in China?" A couple times we came close!

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20090515/tar_promo_090515/20090515/

[slayton]

Siblings run an Amazing Race
By :

2009/05/17
The winners of The Amazing Race Season 14, Victor and Tammy Jih, give the lowdown on how they feel about the unexpected win. PETRINA JO FERNANDEZ writes.

REALITY TV hit an all-time high with Season 14 of The Amazing Race.

Fans saw the final four teams choke on larvae and scorpions, struggle to take food orders in Mandarin, and carry a 65kg pig 182 metres to a beach luau.

Twenty-two days and nine countries later, Asian-American siblings Victor, 36, and Tammy Jih, 27, sweated and grunted their way through as the million-dollar winners, the race was recorded last year and aired from Feb 16 to May 11, this year.

The winners spoke in a telephone interview from California.


On their come-from-behind win.

Victor: It was an absolute shock! After working so hard and feeling so exhausted, the unexpected win was a terrific rush. And I didn’t realise just how many people worldwide, especially in Asia, watch The Amazing Race.

Tammy: I’m still in shock, even though the race was over last year. It was so amazing, I actually cried when I crossed the finish line.



Q: How do you think you represented Asian?

Victor: There were some things we did well and others, not so well. For instance, our synchronised diving skills were definitely not on par with that of an Asian sync swimming team (laughs). But having an Asian background did come in handy. We had an easier time taking orders in Mandarin during our Beijing challenge. I remember saying “If we can’t do this, Mum and Dad will kill us!”



Q: What personal achievements have you made in the course of this race?

Tammy: Well, I’m not particularly co-ordinated, strong or athletic. I have never played sports; I just concentrate on my academic life. I was terribly nervous when I saw how fit the other teams were, especially the girls (laughs). Having competed alongside them, and having won made me a more confident person.

Victor: For me, it was just being in the race. As the eldest son, I felt like I’ve always done what was expected of me. I studied hard, went to law school, became a lawyer. This was my chance to do something that everyone thought was crazy. I never expected to be good at it! It’s great to have my parents proud of me for doing something wild (laughs).



Q: Why did you decide to partner your sibling and what advantages or otherwise did that pose?

Tammy: This is going to hurt my other brother’s feelings (laughs) but I wanted to do this with Victor. He has always been the one pushing me harder, and has been there for me. I knew the race would put us in a lot of difficult situations so I wanted to take this on with someone I trust completely. Victor’s safe to be with because I know him so well. He’s my brother, I love him. Even if we fight like mad, it won’t affect our relationship.

Victor: (Laughs) Siblings are not meant to be “locked” in a cage with each other for 24 hours, let alone 22 days! We did fight like crazy, but deep down, we love each other and that’s what carried us through.



Q: How did you cope, mentally and emotionally?

Victor: It was very hard! The race or the challenges themselves weren’t too difficult; it was the Pit Stops in between that drove us mad. The format of the Pit Stops saw us locked away in our hotel room with only each other for company. We spent most of the time complaining about what we didn’t like about the other person. It was exhaustive! But luckily we did most of the fighting early on in the race and got it over with.

I know Tammy made friends with the cheerleaders’ team (Jaime and Cara) just so she would have someone to complain about me to (laughs).

Tammy: It truly was awful at first but we took it in stride. That’s why I loved being in The Amazing Race with Victor. I told him at least 10 things about him that annoyed me every day but I knew that at the end of the day (or the end of the race, anyway), he’d still love me.



Q: With the cameras on at you all the time, did you feel like superstars?

Tammy: No. I hated it. After all, I was wearing grimy clothes for four weeks. I only had a backpack, was wearing absolutely no make-up, and my hair was in a perpetual mess. I hardly felt like a person, much less a superstar.

Victor: (Laughs) Yeah, Tammy probably hated it more than me. I mean, we were filmed doing gymnastics with our pants off! Every embarrassing moment imaginable was caught on camera. It was hardly superstar material.



Q: Name one must-have item in your backpack.

Tammy: Face lotion. All that running around left my skin horribly parched and dry.

Victor: Clean good underwear (laughs). You don’t want to be captured on camera running around Siberia or somewhere with holes in your underwear.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Features/20090517212901/Article/indexF_html

[slayton]

Their trump card? Speaking Mandarin 
No language barrier for The Amazing Race winners in China
By Jeanmarie Tan
 
May 16, 2009       
 
IT PAYS to speak Mandarin.

One million dollars to be exact, in the case of US-born-and-bred siblings Tammy and Victor Jih, winners of the 14th season of popular reality series The Amazing Race.

And they have their hard-driving, mother tongue-endorsing parents to thank for it.

Although already considered one of the front runners this season, the Harvard-trained lawyers of Chinese descent received an even bigger boost when two legs of the race were set in China.

It was then that they started taking advantage of their 'imperfect' knowledge of Mandarin to communicate with the locals while the other English-speaking racers floundered with the language barrier.

The brother-and-sister duo also excelled in tasks like taking customers' orders in a Chinese restaurant and writing calligraphy.

They also made several self-deprecating remarks during those episodes, like bringing shame to their parents who may 'cry themselves to death' if they didn't come first in the China legs.

Tammy, 26, told The New Paper over the phone from San Francisco that those comments were 'part serious and part joking'.

She said: 'They'd be proud of us no matter what, but if we failed (those tasks), it would be shameful (because) they invested time and effort in getting us to learn the language.'

Victor, 35, added: 'Now they fight over who's more responsible for our success! But both of them are just happy we came home alive, because they expected us to lose.'

According to him, during their childhood, their mum refused to speak to them in English and forced the family to communicate only in Mandarin at home.

Temper tantrums ensued.

Their parents are originally from Taiwan and lived in the US for 30 years, but have since returned to their home country.

Victor recalled: 'In kindergarten I couldn't even say 'I need to go to the bathroom' in English, so I wet my pants on the first day...

'We fought with our parents growing up (over attending Chinese school), but now we're grateful they never gave up on us.'

Coincidentally, the timing of their victory - which was filmed months ago but aired only on Sunday in the US - couldn't be more perfect as it fell on Mother's Day.

Tammy said: 'We convinced them to make this crazy trip and fly to New York City at the last minute to watch the finale with us.

'They didn't know we'd won, so it was so special to share it with them, especially on Mother's Day.'

As their new windfall would go into paying off Tammy's law school loans, how are they going to repay mum?

Victor said: 'We're working on it, but they've said they'll take the Hawaii trip!'

That's one of four holidays the pair won for nabbing first place on one of the race's legs.

First Asian-American team to win

The Jihs are also the first Asian-American team to pocket The Amazing Race's US$1 million ($1.47m) prize.

Victor said: 'It was a surprise anyway, so it's great winning. Period. But it's also a vindication of the way we were brought up.'

The siblings - who were portrayed as being smart, strong, competitive, friendly and even physically attractive - said they've received e-mails from Asian-Americans and Asians from all over the world who were 'happy and proud' of the way they carried themselves on the show.

Victor revealed that one of the e-mails came from a 'little Japanese kid' who said he had always argued with his mother too. But after watching them on the show, he thought it was a 'good idea' to stay in Japanese school.

Even though Victor had visited China before - most recently to Beijing for last year's Olympics - he saw the country in a new light after The Amazing Race.

He said: 'I felt very American around the other racers because they never treated us differently.

'But then I felt very Asian because the Chinese people around us treated us well too and were rooting for us, so it was then that I completely accepted both parts of my identity.'
 
http://newpaper.asiaone.com/show/story/0,4136,202131,00.html

[ZBC Company]

and frist asain to win

[apskip]

zacharybusch,

Make Tammy and Victor first Asian-Americans to win. The first Asians to win were Zabrina and JoeJer for Amazing Race Asia 1.

[ZBC Company]

but not are versoin that asain plus severybody asain hello

[Dånooky]

but not are versoin that asain plus severybody asain hello

[RealityFanWA]

Tammy and Victor did a great job. They were so tough and really seemed to develop as closer siblings right before our eyes.

[Benedicto]

I am so happy for them! Congrats to them! I am rooting for them and Jamie/Cara, I am really wanting to throw away my computer when Margie/Luke have a really good lead, but when it did finally counted, Tammy/Victor and Jamie/Cara caught up and I loved it