OH! MY! Zabrina and Joe Jer won! Yes! Our favourite team won the Amazing Race Asia. To make it sweeter, the two are also the first ever all-girl team to win an Amazing Race competition. No other all-female team has ever done that. Malaysia is truly proud of you two!
Really, we were on the edge of our seats last Friday night and what an amazing feeling it was watching the two Malaysian girls ran up to the final mat to claim first place position.
At home, The Amazing Race Asia has been the centre of our lives for the past 10 weeks or so. Although we are overjoyed that Zab and Joe Jer won, it was also bittersweet feeling that there’ll no more raced to follow.
It has been a really enjoyable watch, and I dare say that it’s better in almost every way to the American version. For a start, the 10 teams were really diverse and colourful.
And since I’ve got nothing better to do at the moment, and since this is my BLOG, anyway – I’m going to do rundown of the 10 teams. Saja suka-suka and untuk membuang masa.
10. Ernie and Jenna (The Philippines) – This is the team we did not get to know because they got eliminated too soon. Looking back, I still believe that if they did not blunder in their attempt to secure the Fast Forward in the second leg, they will definitely stay on and be a force to be reckoned with. They were among the leaders going into Jakarta and it was sheer bad luck that they got lost while searching for the school for that Fast Forward task. I would say that they are one of the smarter teams in the race. Just watch Episode 1.
9. Aubrey and Jacqueline (The Philippines) – Many put the two ladies under the teams you loved to hate category. But I found them to be funny. Yes! They did flaunt their beauty and sexuality all the way. I called that strategizing. And they are not as irritating as the many all-female teams in the TAR US version.
8. Sahil and Prashant (India) – I still wish that Ernie and Jenna beat them to the Jakarta Fast Forward. Remember their exit? They defied one of the rules of the competition (they claimed they did not know about the rule, ya right!) and for that they were penalised. But still they left the competition under the misconception that they were the strongest team in the Race. Macho konon. Bodoh ada lar. In true Bollywood fashion, they are both smug and muddled. And M&M just confirmed (in a newspaper interview) that both Indian boys are cocky.
7. Sharon and Melody (Singapore) – Like a true blue Malaysian, I was so ready not to support these Singaporean lasses. But their tenacity was so endearing that they won me over. Furthermore, they came across as genuinely nice people and I would definitely want to be their friends. Remember that Sharon was the only one who gave the girl on the swing in New Zealand task a hug for making the girl waited for them in the cold for so long? And when Melody leaped down screaming during the bungee jumping task in New Zealand, our heart simply went out to her.
6. Howard and Sahran (Sri Lanka) – My all time favourite team in the history of Amazing Race series. The moment they introduced themselves in Episode One (where Sahran list down their phobias which were practically almost everything that you usually associated with the race), you simply cannot not like these two drama kings. Their one-liners are priceless. They are simply funny, nice and you just can’t stop rooting for them. It was quite sad to see them got eliminated.
5. Andy and Laura (Thailand) – The team many people love to hate. But they are smart and can be incredibly lucky. Enough said.
4. Mardy and Marsio (Indonesia) – Another favourite. And very hilarious. Marsio seems to be talking non-stop. Remember the “Our bodies are designed to eat and sleep” line? It seems that they spent all their money on food and more food. After Team Sri Lanka left the competition, the M&M provided the much needed drama.
3. Andrew and Syeon (Malaysia) –Impressive performance throughout. They were incredibly clever and played the race really well. Remember when they were the first team to locate the girl on the swing in New Zealand? And they picked the right gondola in the Eye of the Emirates challenge right on!
If they had engaged a taxi driver to drive them out of Kuching to the Sarawak Cultural Village instead of relying on the Lonely Planet guide book, they would certainly win the competition.
2. Sandy and Francesca (Hong Kong) - Sandy and Francesca are fun to watch, and funny, too, especially when Francesca is "freaking out" (which was often). Trust me, if you are watching any of the American contestants freaking out during the race, it will irritate you to the maximum. Somehow, it was not the case with Fran - you simply empathised and laughed. Don’t know why lar? And Sandy is a picture of calm. Just found out that he finished the eating challenge in seven minutes while Marsio took more than an hour to complete his. Waah!
1. Zabrina and Joe Jer (Malaysia) – Who would have thought that they would win the big one, right? But looking at the earlier episodes, they were quite strong and always finished in the upper half. Although they came across as not as competitive as other teams (must be the editing lar) they were quick thinking, personable and nice. It was nice to see that the duo take the time to appreciate the places and people they meet along the way.
Some statistics
Teams that were saved by the of pre-determined non-elimination legs of the Race!
Ø SanFran in Kuala Lumpur
Ø Howard Sahran in Wellington
Ø Zabrina Joe Jer in Bangkok
Ø M&M in Dubai
Teams yielded
Ø Andy and Laura in New Delhi
The only team related by blood
Ø M&M
The only married couple
Ø Ernie and Jenna
Teams that reached the pit stop first more than once
Ø Andrew and Syeon
Ø Andy and Laura
Ø San Fran
The other teams that came in first
Ø Sahil and Prashant in Jakarta
Ø Howard and Sahran in Bali (Zab and Joe Jer came in first but was penalised for not completing a task)
Ø Zab and Joe Jer for the big one in Bako.
All-Male Teams
Ø M&M
Ø Howard Sahran
Ø Sahil Prashant
All Female teams
Ø Zab and Joe Jer
Ø Aubrey and Jacqueline
Ø Melody and Sharon
Couples
Ø Andrew and Syeon
Ø San Fran
Ø Andy Laura
Ø Ernie Jenna
