#624 - The Amazing Race Asia 3 (Finale)

ENGLISH

On the finale episode of The Amazing Race Asia 3, all teams left the pitstart in Oman 12 hours after they reached the pitstop (where A.D & Fuzzie got eliminated). First of all they had some tasks in Oman including moving ten camels. There were some route infos and one Roadblock. The roadblock was similar with some tasks which had previously been done on TAR, they gotta locate key buried in the desert with some metalic censor device. After that they gotta go to their final destination, Phuket, Thailand. On this first part of the finale, the tension wasn't really on. On some parts Geoff & Tisha were kinda neck to neck with Ida & Tania.

This flight to Phuket became a big equalizer. But then, Geoff & Tisha and Sam & Vince took the flight to Phuket via Dubai and Bangkok, while Ida & Tania took a risk by taking flight via Dubai and Singapore. Unfortunately this didn't go their way when they missed the connection flight in Dubai. Now, the race was between Geoff & Tisha and Sam & Vince.

In Phuket, Thailand, Geoff & Tisha managed to leave the airport first but then got lost because of the taxi driver. It's kinda funny when Geoff said: "You live and die by your taxi driver", Marc & Rovilson's (of season 2) motto. Then, there came the Detour. The choices were PULL or PLUNGE. In PULL they gotta pull ropes of oysters' shells to find one marked shell. In PLUNGE they gotta snorkel to find a giant pearl oyster shell and took one big pearl. SV chose PLUNGE at first then decided to change to PULL, GT chose PULL, and IT chose PLUNGE.

After that they gotta do their last task, sand digging to find the treasure box. The treasure box is probably the best thing on the finale, hmm... . Once they got it they gotta walk to the finish line. On the finish line, all eliminated team (Neena & Amit, William & Isaac, Natalie & Pailin, Niroo & Kapil, Mai & Oliver, Henry & Bernie, and A.D & Fuzzie) were waiting for the winner. The winner of TARA 3 is: Sam & Vince from Hong Kong!! Then, Geoff & Tisha came in second and Ida & Tania came in third.

Well, for me, the result is NOT surprising at all. About one and a half month ago, AXN started to air the Sony HD Ad which featured Sam & Vince as 'The Amazing HK Team'. Well, looking at what happened to Adrian & Collin on season 2, I'm sure SV was the winner. Then, after that ad and some speculations on TARA Forum, the producer tried to spread some decoys, hahaha... :) For sure, they're not working against me. I have some clues that indicate SV was the winner.

One decoy even saying that twas not only SV who were invited to be in the ad. I was like: "WHAT??". That's so lame. Do you think it's possible to make and ad featuring all racers and not airing them? Such a waste of money, time, and energy. Something that doesn't make sense for TARA. They seemed to tighten their budget on the race this season and they wasted money on the ad? It doesn't make any sense. You gotta come up with a better decoy, hahaha...

Overall, it was an okay season. Since the beginning (when TARA 3 was started to be promoted), I hadn't been really sure with the tagline, "The toughest race ever", since I always believe, toughness doesn't guarantee a better and great show. You see? Too many racers gave up this season, it might be too tough or simply lack of determination. Hmmm... . I'm also disappointed with the destination this season. They didn't leave Asia. I mean, at least on season 1 they visited Australia and New Zealand for 3 legs. C'Mon. I kinda miss the 'excited' expression just like the one some racers had on TAR 13 when they found out they gotta go to New Zealand, hahaha....

Anyway, one team surprised me very much, which is Ida & Tania. At first I didn't really like this team, but as the show aired, I liked this team even more, hmmm!! They're cool, not spoiled, funny, and enjoyed themselves. Cool!! :) I was hoping they would win the show out of the final three tho, but because of that Sony Ad, I know they didn't win, hahaha...

Ah, hopefully, TARA 4 will be a lot better. Not saying that this season is really bad, since I think the teams placings is a lot better this season then the so-predictable placings as in season 2, hahaha... :)

::: Tania at the Roadblock

::: Sam & Vince became the winner of TARA 3

note: pictures are courtesy of the official website. I dunno what happened but the quality of most pictures this season is really poor and pathetic. Hmmm....

BAHASA INDONESIA

Di episode final dari The Amazing Race Asia 3, semua tim meninggalkan pitstop di Oman 12 jam setelah mereka tiba di pitstop (di mana A.D & Fuzzie tereliminasi). Pertama-tamanya mereka harus melakukan beberapa tugas di Oman termasuk memindahkan 10 ekor unta. Kemudian ada beberapa route infos dan satu Roadblock. Roadblock-nya ternyata mirip sama beberapa tugas yang pernah dilakukan di TAR, mereka harus mencari kunci yang terkubur di gurun pasir dengan alat sensor metal gitu. Habis itu mereka harus pergi ke tujuan akhir mereka, Phuket, Thailand. Pada bagian pertama final ini, tensinya nggak tinggi-tinggi amat. Cuma di beberapa bagian aja Geoff & Tisha cukup bersaing sama Ida & Tania.

Penerbangan ke Phuket ini jelas menjadi equalizer yang besar. Tapi kemudian, Geoff & Tisha dan Sam & Vince naik penerbangan ke Phuket via Dubai dan bangkok, sementara Ida & Tania naik penerbangan ke Phuket via Dubai dan Singapore. Sayangnya ini tidak berjalan sesuai rencana dan mereka ketinggalan penerbangan lanjutan di Dubai. Sekarang race nya tinggal antara Geoff & Tisha dan Sam & Vince deh.

Di Phuket, Thailand, Geoff & Tisha berhasil keluar dari bandaranya duluan namun mereka tersesat gara-gara supir taksi mereka. Lucu juga ketika Geoff bilang: "You live and die by your taxi driver", motto-nya Marc & Rovilson (dari season 2). Kemudian, sampailah mereka pada tugas Detour. Pilihannya adalah PULL atau PLUNGE. Di PULL mereka harus narik beberapa tali yg terikat dengan kulit kerang untuk menemukan satu kulit kerang bertanda. Di PLUNGE mereka harus snorkel dan menemukan kulit kerang mutiara raksasa dan ngambil satu mutiara. SV milih PLUNGE pertamanya trus ganti jadi PULL, GT pilih PULL, dan IT pilih PLUNGE.

Habis itu mereka harus melakukan tugas terakhir, yaitu menggali pasir untuk menemukan kotak harta karun. Kota harta karun ini mungkin hal terbagus deh dari finalnya, hmm... . Begitu mendapatkannya mereka harus jalan ke garis finis. Di garis finis, semua tim yang tereliminasi (Neena & Amit, William & Isaac, Natalie & Pailin, Niroo & Kapil, Mai & Oliver, Henry & Bernie, dan A.D & Fuzzie) menunggu pemenangnya. Pemenang dari TARA 3: Sam & Vince dari Hong Kong!! Trus, Geoff & Tisha menjadi yang kedua dan Ida & Tania yang ketiga.

Hmm, untuk aku hasil ini sangat TIDAK mengejutkan sama sekali. Sekitar sebulan setengah yang lalu, AXN mulai menayangkan Iklan Sony HD yang menampilkan Sam & Vince sebagai 'The Amazing HK Team'. Hmm, melihat apa yang terjadi pada Adrian & Collin dari season 2, aku yakin SV adalah pemenangnya. Kemudian, setelah iklan itu dan beberapa spekulasi di Forum TARA, produsernya berusaha menyebar beberapa pengecoh, hahaha... :) Tentu saja pengecoh-pengecoh itu ga ngefek lah untuk aku. Aku memiliki beberapa petunjuk yang mengindikasikan SV adalah pemenangnya.

Satu pengecoh bahkan mengatakan kalau nggak cuma SV yang diundang untuk dibikinin iklan itu. Reaksiku: "APA??". Jelek banget alasan pengecohnya. Masa iya gitu produsernya membuat iklan yang menampilkan semua racers dan tidak menayangkannya? Bener-bener pemborosan uang, waktu, dan energi. Sesuatu yang amat mustahil untuk TARA. Mereka keliatan banget menekan pengeluaran untuk race-nya season ini kemudian ada argumen mereka membuang-buang uang di iklan? Nampak sangat tidak masuk akal. Ayolah, pengecohnya yang bagusan dikit napa, hahaha....

Secara keseluruhan, menurutku ini season yang biasa saja. Sejak awal (ketika TARA 3 mulai dipromosikan), aku sudah nggak sreg sama motto-nya, "The toughest race ever", karena aku percaya, kalau ke-tough-an tidak menjamin sebuah show yang bagus dan menarik. Lihat kan? Banyak banget racers yang menyerah di tengah jalan, memang mungkin karena terlalu tough atau kurang determinasi dari para racers saja sih. Hmmm... . Aku juga kecewa sama destinasi dari season ini. Mereka nggak meninggalkan Asia. Maksudku, paling ga di season 1 mereka pergi ke Australia dan New Zealand selama 3 legs. Ayolah. Aku merasa rindu untuk melihat ekspresi 'bersemangat' dari para racers kaya ekspresi beberapa racers TAR 13 ketika mereka mengetahui mereka harus pergi ke New Zealand, hahaha....

Ngomong2, satu tim mengejutkan aku loh, yaitu Ida & Tania. Pada awalnya aku nggak suka tim ini, tapi seiring berjalannya show, aku makin suka aja, hmm!! Mereka keren aja, gak manja, dan menikmati diri mereka sendiri. Keren deh!! :) Aku sih sebenernya berharap mereka yang menang, tapi karena Iklan Sony aku tahu mereka nggak menang, hahaha...

Ah, semoga TARA 4 menjadi makin baik lah. Season ini bukannya sangat amat jelek sekali, soalnya setidaknya posisi akhir racers-nya lebih baik daripada season lalu yang sangat amat mudah diprediksi, hahaha... :)