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spiderbraidsWith TAR US being benched this fall, our local TAR broadcaster AXN has brought out TAR Asia out of mothballs for a 5th season... replete with the same host even :-)
Ep 1
1. Only got to see a bit more than half of this one... so we're starting in Indonesia, as we pick up the action at a Detour, where some teams are fixing up a bike, including stringing up the mudguard to exacting standards (!) and others are filling barrels with sand...
2. After the Detour is a long taxi ride (2-3 hours in traffic!) to some park in another town, to pick up a clue from some male traditional dancer, and then find the female traditional dancer with a matching scarf... Some of the contestants make snitty comments about girls running away from them after seeing the girl dancers doing the same :-)
3. Pitstop is at the presidential palace, where Alphaeus/Brandon (Malaysia) get first place and plane tix from Garuda Indonesia to Bali, while a S'pore team, siblings Rei/Keiji (already dead last doing the bikes) is the first boot... while the other S'pore team, radio DJs JK/Mike, are just glad not to be eliminated in the first leg (5th place :-)) Due to extraordinary local circumstances, all AXN programming was pre-empted here locally for the next two weeks after the night of the show's premiere... so no episode 2 for me :-\
Ep 3
1. And so, we skip straight to episode 3, and another ep I only got to see about half of, picking up as everyone's heading to a temple on Penang Island in Malaysia for an overnight bunch and a clue pick-up for a Detour, between looking for severall street art murals and taking photos of them as specified (by getting some locals to pose in a specified manner), and practicing and performing a Chinese opera fight...
2. The street art mural search is done on "becas" (rickshaw bikes), leading to a scene of Tom/Anita (Thailand) have to quickly fix theirs before continuing their search :-) Meanwhile, Chinese opera fight is performed in full costume and makeup, which leads to some racers commenting on other teams' make up :-D
3. Pit stop is at the "Clan Jetties" traditionally belonging to various Chinese families in Penang, and Treasuri/Louisa (Indonesia) claim a first place without a prize (HUH.) Rach(el)/Vicky (also from Indonesia, travel hosts... and Vicky is a guy) are last, but are NEL'd :-)
Ep 4
1. Finally got to see a full ep more or less, as the next stop is Phuket :-) First task is in Phangnga, in which teams are to carry over a bunch of sharp pineapple leaves to a post and then ride an elephant over to eat them. Meanwhile, Rach/Vicky's speed bump entails them heading into a cave to pickup a small elephant figure and bring it to the spirit house in front of the cave, before heading to the elephant task...
2. JK/Mike get plenty of humor during the elephant task segment: While they're cabbing to the elephant park, they're looking at a nightclub brochure that has been blurred out on the broadcast... they quip that they'd like to go there even if there aren't elephants there :-) And while carrying the really sharp pineapple leaves and worrying about getting cuts on their faces, they comment "There's always surgery :-)" And there are also lots of comments by JK about Mike's butt (HUH.)
3. After a clue pickup on a bridge, a Detour between untying a bunch of knots to free a floating platform and use it to retrieve the next clue... and learning a Muay Thai ceremony :-) There are only 4 platforms, so some teams have no choice in the matter anyway... JK/Mike do Muay Thai and make a comment about having to suck in their stomachs before the judging :-)
4. Roadblock at a temple: "Who has a problem sitting still?" It's of course a meditation roadblock... with a twist: Contestants have to balance a stack of coins on their heads and back of their hands for 15 minutes (!) Eric (/Rona, Phillipines) elects to do it standing up, while everyone else sits in the typical meditation position... JK kisses Mike after completing the Roadblock, and in the cab, JK quips about this being the first time he kissed a man :-D Rach, firmly in last with Vicky, compares themselves to SpongeBob and Patrick during the meditation :-D :-D
5. Pitstop at a beach: Grab a coconut from the marked stall and run down the beach to the pitstop... Parul/Maggie (models, Philippines) completely miss the marked stall the first time around, while Eric/Rona and Yvonne/Chloe (Malaysia) head in the wrong direction (and E/R even think "down the beach" might be a bar name [!]) Eventually, Treasuri/Louisa claim their second first place in a row (and still no prize), while Rach/Vicky are finally eliminated, as Vicky comments on how much Rach gets snippy under pressure...
Ep 5
1. Next stop is Ho Chi Minh City, and teams can either go for the Fast Forward and eat through rice bowls to find a coin... or fish for some prawns... and as it happens, none of the teams get the Fast Forward, with Malaysian muscle brothers Will and Alex spending the most time looking, and thus are still fishing for prawns while everyone else is long off to the Detour...
2. All the teams also do one side of a Detour, carrying a set of given flowers with a shoulder pole and basket to a given flower shop, where the main issue is looking for the flower shop, due to randomly jumping house numbers...
3. Roadblock at a restaurant: "Who's ready for a snack?" And not just your normal snack: Coconut rats, lizards, scorpions and centipedes (!!!) Parul has been a vegetarian since she was young, and wonders how people can eat these animals... Meanwhile, Chloe is eating her meal, while Yvonne is retching at the sight of the meal, and she's not the only one :-D But as T/L say, "It'll come out of your butt later" :-)
4. Pitstop in the middle of some roundabout, and T/L arrive saying: "Love Ho Chi Minh... Not so sure about the food :-D" T/L get themselves another first place, and this time around a prize: 2 tickets anywhere on Garuda Indonesia, and they're even shown using the app, a la the US TAR's Travelocity shilling :-) No surprise, Will/Alex are last and get themselves eliminated...
Ep 1
1. Only got to see a bit more than half of this one... so we're starting in Indonesia, as we pick up the action at a Detour, where some teams are fixing up a bike, including stringing up the mudguard to exacting standards (!) and others are filling barrels with sand...
2. After the Detour is a long taxi ride (2-3 hours in traffic!) to some park in another town, to pick up a clue from some male traditional dancer, and then find the female traditional dancer with a matching scarf... Some of the contestants make snitty comments about girls running away from them after seeing the girl dancers doing the same :-)
3. Pitstop is at the presidential palace, where Alphaeus/Brandon (Malaysia) get first place and plane tix from Garuda Indonesia to Bali, while a S'pore team, siblings Rei/Keiji (already dead last doing the bikes) is the first boot... while the other S'pore team, radio DJs JK/Mike, are just glad not to be eliminated in the first leg (5th place :-)) Due to extraordinary local circumstances, all AXN programming was pre-empted here locally for the next two weeks after the night of the show's premiere... so no episode 2 for me :-\
Ep 3
1. And so, we skip straight to episode 3, and another ep I only got to see about half of, picking up as everyone's heading to a temple on Penang Island in Malaysia for an overnight bunch and a clue pick-up for a Detour, between looking for severall street art murals and taking photos of them as specified (by getting some locals to pose in a specified manner), and practicing and performing a Chinese opera fight...
2. The street art mural search is done on "becas" (rickshaw bikes), leading to a scene of Tom/Anita (Thailand) have to quickly fix theirs before continuing their search :-) Meanwhile, Chinese opera fight is performed in full costume and makeup, which leads to some racers commenting on other teams' make up :-D
3. Pit stop is at the "Clan Jetties" traditionally belonging to various Chinese families in Penang, and Treasuri/Louisa (Indonesia) claim a first place without a prize (HUH.) Rach(el)/Vicky (also from Indonesia, travel hosts... and Vicky is a guy) are last, but are NEL'd :-)
Ep 4
1. Finally got to see a full ep more or less, as the next stop is Phuket :-) First task is in Phangnga, in which teams are to carry over a bunch of sharp pineapple leaves to a post and then ride an elephant over to eat them. Meanwhile, Rach/Vicky's speed bump entails them heading into a cave to pickup a small elephant figure and bring it to the spirit house in front of the cave, before heading to the elephant task...
2. JK/Mike get plenty of humor during the elephant task segment: While they're cabbing to the elephant park, they're looking at a nightclub brochure that has been blurred out on the broadcast... they quip that they'd like to go there even if there aren't elephants there :-) And while carrying the really sharp pineapple leaves and worrying about getting cuts on their faces, they comment "There's always surgery :-)" And there are also lots of comments by JK about Mike's butt (HUH.)
3. After a clue pickup on a bridge, a Detour between untying a bunch of knots to free a floating platform and use it to retrieve the next clue... and learning a Muay Thai ceremony :-) There are only 4 platforms, so some teams have no choice in the matter anyway... JK/Mike do Muay Thai and make a comment about having to suck in their stomachs before the judging :-)
4. Roadblock at a temple: "Who has a problem sitting still?" It's of course a meditation roadblock... with a twist: Contestants have to balance a stack of coins on their heads and back of their hands for 15 minutes (!) Eric (/Rona, Phillipines) elects to do it standing up, while everyone else sits in the typical meditation position... JK kisses Mike after completing the Roadblock, and in the cab, JK quips about this being the first time he kissed a man :-D Rach, firmly in last with Vicky, compares themselves to SpongeBob and Patrick during the meditation :-D :-D
5. Pitstop at a beach: Grab a coconut from the marked stall and run down the beach to the pitstop... Parul/Maggie (models, Philippines) completely miss the marked stall the first time around, while Eric/Rona and Yvonne/Chloe (Malaysia) head in the wrong direction (and E/R even think "down the beach" might be a bar name [!]) Eventually, Treasuri/Louisa claim their second first place in a row (and still no prize), while Rach/Vicky are finally eliminated, as Vicky comments on how much Rach gets snippy under pressure...
Ep 5
1. Next stop is Ho Chi Minh City, and teams can either go for the Fast Forward and eat through rice bowls to find a coin... or fish for some prawns... and as it happens, none of the teams get the Fast Forward, with Malaysian muscle brothers Will and Alex spending the most time looking, and thus are still fishing for prawns while everyone else is long off to the Detour...
2. All the teams also do one side of a Detour, carrying a set of given flowers with a shoulder pole and basket to a given flower shop, where the main issue is looking for the flower shop, due to randomly jumping house numbers...
3. Roadblock at a restaurant: "Who's ready for a snack?" And not just your normal snack: Coconut rats, lizards, scorpions and centipedes (!!!) Parul has been a vegetarian since she was young, and wonders how people can eat these animals... Meanwhile, Chloe is eating her meal, while Yvonne is retching at the sight of the meal, and she's not the only one :-D But as T/L say, "It'll come out of your butt later" :-)
4. Pitstop in the middle of some roundabout, and T/L arrive saying: "Love Ho Chi Minh... Not so sure about the food :-D" T/L get themselves another first place, and this time around a prize: 2 tickets anywhere on Garuda Indonesia, and they're even shown using the app, a la the US TAR's Travelocity shilling :-) No surprise, Will/Alex are last and get themselves eliminated...
