Culturally Preconditioned

Just a quick update. I know it’s only been the second episode but for fucks sake, can we vote that Allen Wu person off the show? Never mind that he keeps pronouncing KL as Kuala Lampore, I am really hating his inappropriate pause when announcing the placement at the pitstops.. “You are team number… *crickets*… six!!”. Geez!! And he is so bloody wooden (and not even the good kind!). Bleh.. Seriously, they must do replace this idiot with someone else if there is a second season.

On to the second episode. Whoa.. how quickly the show succumbs to shameless product placements. I am, of course, referring to Air Asia and Sony this time around. Actually I was surprised the Malaysian Tourism Board didn’t shove things down the viewers throat in the last episode. I don’t know the Air Asia thingy kinda takes out the suspense out of the airport scenes. I mean, basically, I can only foresee there will be a single predetermined flight for these racers to take, unlike the free-for-all multiple-possible-routes that takes place in the original Amazing Race. Everyone seemed pretty laidback.. no additional drama or suspense at the airport. Heck, the M&M brothers were seen gorging down a McDonalds hash browns (are they part of the product placements too?)

Anyway, I thought the challenges this time around was pretty lame. The challenge at the zoo with the snake, personally, was pretty scary, cause I really hate snakes.. so kudos to all the teams that made it through. I was very very surprised the Sri Lankan bitch didn’t have a meltdown over that whole challenge. The Bakso challenge was really bland to me. All it did was made me want to go and have that fabulous Mi Bakso they serve in Subang Jaya. Yummers. Here’s a breakdown on what I think of the teams (in order of their arrivals at the pitstops).

Team #1 : Models - They had balls for going after the Fast Forward, knowing that another team ahead of them was already going after it. They were extremely lucky the other team fucked up, and good for them on getting the Fast Forward. They seemed less annoying this time around, but only maybe because they got the Fast Forward and had less screen time.

Team #2 : M&Ms - Aaahh my separated-at-birth-out-of-shape twin brothers. It really says something that they managed to stay near the top on this second leg of the race. I’m not really sure if they really used their home advantage, though. They said there were no way anyone would buy the Bakso noodles at that hour, when it was pretty clear that the other team had no problems doing that. In any case, they didn’t really lose their lead, so bravo!

Team #3 : Gays - Not that I have anything against gayfolks, but oh who are they trying to fool. Anyway, I was pretty impressed that they ended up pretty impressively in this leg of the race. But I’m also a little iffy on the judging of the Bakso cart pushing thingy but whatever. Howard I guess I’m okay with. Sahran, not so much.

Team #4 : Zabrina - Sorry, but Joe Jer hasn’t been that stand out-ish so far, so I’m calling this team Zabrina. I was a little nervous cause they were the last to leave the airport, but surprisingly, they pulled a fast one on the Bakso challenge, so YaY! Next week’s previews don’t look to good for them though. I hope it’s false editing.

Team #5 : Singaporeans - Finally we get to hear something from this team, even if it’s hearing their kiasu-ness about learning the Bakso song while in the taxi cab. I think it’s a little endearing. For now.

Team #6 : Perky Bitches - I think I have succeeded in blocking this team out of my memory throughout the duration of the show. Did they do anything more annoying and perky than usual? I can’t remember. Someone posted on the message board that Aubrey’s most memorable roles as an actress: (1).Scholar prostitute. (2).A Bride Possessed by her dead sister. (3). Retarded woman who thinks like a 5 year old. So far, we’ve seen (1) and (3) personified on this show. I guess we’ll see (2) when their perky ass gets booted.

Team #7 : One Night Standers - Their calmness and collectiveness are pretty much bordering on being just plain boring. But they’re alright, I guess.

Team #8 : Malanoys - In case you didn’t get that, it’s the half Malaysian and half Pinoy team. I think we missed a lot on this team in this episode. How did they end up near the bottom rank? Urgh.. they better buck up soon.

Team #9 : Muscles - This team seemed to work well this episode, and not annoying at all. It’s just a case of bad luck, I guess (the numbering system at the zoo was really weird.. the teams that arrived didn’t get the proper numbers in order. Weird!) It must suck so much for them to end up almost being eliminated after arriving last in the previous pitstop. It was pretty kind and nice for the other teams to give them some money at the beginning of this show, so that pretty much says how the other teams feel about them.

Team #10 : Pinoys - Ironically enough, they only showed Team Muscle reading the cash contribution from Team Pinoy at the beginning of the show. I should’ve guessed that was some sort of foreshadowing. Man, I thought this team would’ve given a lot of competition in this race. In the end, their bad luck with a sucky taxi driver was their downfall. They were the first team at the beginning of this episode, and ended up being dead last because the driver didn’t send them to the right Fast Forward venue. And to add salt to the wound, they were the only team that had to do the cart pushing challenge twice. I’m guessing they are definitely not going to have fond memories of Indonesia, and I can’t blame them.

That said, I think the show was a slight improvement. There were moments of suspense, but you could already tell Team Pinoy were fucked halfway through the show and there were no turning back for them (especially after being told to do the cart challenge twice). The editing still sucks, but it’s still the only good show to watch on a Thursday.