Culturally Preconditioned

Just a quick review of the 2007 Resolutions I made earlier this year.

(1) Finish up at least a chapter for my novel-in-progress every month

Yes yes yes.. that goddamn Daud In Distress is putting me in distress. FUCK YOU, DAUD. Anyway, I’ve decided to be more realistic. Personally the whole NaNoWriMo thingy puts too much of a pressure. I might still attempt it this year, but not on my precious baby. This baby needs careful thought and time put into it. So, we’ll start a chapter a month. That seems plausible.

— BWAHAHAHAA are you kidding me? I’ve retitled the title to Distressed Daud.. Is Dead in November. And I only got up to a paragraph of that.. so.. I have totally FAILED miserably for this one —

(2) Finish reading at least one novel a month

I’m currently trying to read two novels a month. One novel lies on my workdesk in the office. And the other lies on my bedside table. Theoretically, I can always squeeze in 30-45 minutes everyday for these novels, but there’s always.. I don’t know. I would like to say ‘distraction’, but it’s not. It’s just excuses. There’s internet connection on my workdesk, and there’s also internet connection on my bedside table. That’s the culprit, right there. And don’t ask me to read on my 1.5 hours commute to/from work everyday, that’s time for my iPod.

— Well I’ve managed start reading about 8 novels this year, and I think I only finished half of that. I don’t know what the hell is the matter with me. I used to read a LOT before. Urgh.. I should put more effort into this. Verdict : FAILURE —

(3) Actually send in application form and video for TAR Asia

I have actually filled in 75% of the application form, but we ran out of time, trying to beat the deadline. We needed more time to think of a catchy and interesting application video. By hook or by crook, I’ll make damn sure that we send in an application if there’s going to be a Season 2 of TAR Asia. I will still be putting in ‘Lucy Lawless’ to describe my team mate, but I’m still undecided on choosing which 3 adjectives to describe myself. Judgemental? Foul mouthed? Lardass? Slightly camp? Obnoxious? God.. this is impossible.

— SUCCESS!!!! Even though we didn’t get a callback, that’s fine.. at least I’m not kicking myself for not doing it (ps. fuck you TARA2 casting assholes). And for what it’s worth… the three adjectives I chose to describe myself were (in order) 1. Sarcastic 2. Witty 3. Uninhibited. Maybe next time I’ll put 1. Everything opposite of Roviltwunt 2. Everything opposite of Roviltwunt 3. Everything opposite of Roviltwunt —-

(4) Save and put away 20% of my salary (untouched till next year)

Now this actually seems plausible, putting away 20%, since my car loan only has a few payments left. I’ll be a free man soon. FREE I TELL YA!!! But then again, there’s still that fucking house loan to settle. Anyway, I’ll try to put away that 20%.. but letting it stay untouched will be the most hardest thing I’ll ever have to do. My prediction for this is that I will fail miserably.

— FAILED miserably with the ‘untouched’ part —

(5) Try out at least 20 new dining places (!!)

Okay, kinda contradicts with my number (4) plan but what the hell. Twenty seems like a reasonable number to spread out over a year. And with the abundant food blogs that we have around, I’m 100% sure this will not.be.a.problem.whatsoever.

— SUCCESS! A little too much though… the ones that I remember.. at the top of my head : Bujang Lapok Cafe, Jombali Cafe, Rakuzen Hartamas, Tambak Johor Shah Alam, Kluang Station, that place in Lygon Street, Fitzroy Street, the Docklands and the Harbour, Koko Black, Santai Tesco, Rakuzen Chulan Square, Puzzini, Tony Roma’s, Kari Kepala Ikan Bangsar, Chef & Brew, Just Heavenly Pleasures, Ichiban, Restoran Sup Adabi (VILE), Azim’s Burget @ Rasta (EXTREMELY OVERRATED AND SUPER VILE), Delicious Bangsar Village, Suchan, Hooked, Uncle Lim’s, Big Apple Donut, Raja Sup, Cheng Lock Laksa, Siam Corner Oldtown, Kura One World, Asam Pedas Royal Bintang, Santai Taman Tun, Ayam Penyet Ria, Vienna Bagels, Mariott Putrajaya,  Shabu Shabu, Siam Express, Shangri La, J Co, that Italian place in Streetmall, that Udang Petai restaurant in TTDI, Anjung Merah.. and last but not least.. FUCKING KRISPY KREME!!!! If I had to forgo everything on that list for just Krispy Kreme, I would do it in a heartbeat. Seriously.. Krispy Kreme > Dunkin Donuts + Big Apple + JCo combined. When the FUCK is the franchise coming over to our shores?? (I’m guessing you might’ve just gained a few pounds just a few pounds after reading this lardass post) —

(6) Lose 10 kilos (sure, why not)

Sorta contradicts with my number (5) plan but well, since everyone’s doing it nowadays.. *rolleyes*. It’s not impossible though. I think I just have to eat sensibly. But I’m still sticking to the no-gym rule. Hell, if I can lose 18 kilos in 6 months before, I sure as hell can lose 10 kilos in 12 months!

— Urgh FAILURE. I lost SOME initially, and then gained MORE. I can’t help but being a fat bastard. Mmmm krispy kremeeeessssss mmmm One Doughnut To Rule Them All *mega drool* —

(7) Stay at my current workplace and not look for new jobs

Yeah one of the more toughest challenge for me, personally. I get bored quickly, but so far, things are working out okay. Granted that everything ain’t exactly hunky dory over here, I still get to go back from work at 5pm sometimes (only to be called up at 2 and 3 am in the fucking morning).. but everywhere you go, you’re still gonna get some form of shit from work no matter what company you are. If it’s not shit, it ain’t work. So I might as well try and stay here in hoping that I will get some sort of bonus this year.

— Ummm.. FAILURE, but in all fairness, I don’t give a shit cause I fucking LOVE my new job and new workplace (granted we’ll be outsourced in a couple of months time).. and technically, I didn’t look for this new job, the new job found me (my resume was in their resume bank for the past 3 years).. so, I’m going to change this to success —

(8) Hold at least one awesome party at my new apartment

The challenge is not in holding an awesome party itself. The challenge is preparing the awesome environment in my brand new apartment. First step, getting that dream kitchen of mine in place. So that means more money.. which in turn contradicts my number (4) plan. Fucker. Well in any case, I will hold a decent housewarming party when the apartment is done, with or without that damn kitchen.

— FAILURE.. but not my fault since I will only be receiving the keys to my new apartment in a couple of days. OMG I’m moving into my own place in a couple of weeks!!! NO MORE ROOMIES EVAHHH!!!! (and yes, yes.. the lamb rack WILL be served) —

(9) Cancel off one credit card

If I can do this one, I will be most happy (forget the fact that I have eleventy billion other credit cards). This will be hard to do, but not entirely impossible. In fact, it’s a must do.

— SUCCESS!!! I didn’t think I could do it.. but I did! Yay me! 1 down, 26 credit cards to go. Credit cards = The passport to hell —

(10) Stick to at least 50% of my resolution

Hope springs eternal, eh?

— Let’s see… Success for (3) (5) (9).. Failure for (1) (2) (4) (6).. Failure but kinda not (7) (8)…. BAHHH!!! Who am I kidding? Number (10) is a big fat FAILURE. I should lower down the figure for next year’s (will be posted sometime before midnight tonight — if I can be bothered) —
 

Continuing from the last episode… teams arrive at the pseudo-pitstop in the following order :

1. Ann & Diane
2. Marc & Roviltwat
3. Collin & Adrian
4. Paula & Natasha
5. Daichi & Sawaka
6. Henry & Terri
7. Pam & Vanessa

.. only to discover that this leg of the race wasn’t over yet. So they get their next clue to the race, which is to travel to Hakata Port, the international ferry terminal where teams had to board a ferry to Busan in South Korea. Personally, I was really bummed that they didn’t have an actual pitstop in Japan, but life .. I mean, the race.. goes on.

All of the teams were again bunched up for the 320 km ferry ride. Well at least this is a brand new mode of transportation to move from different countries. Once in Busan, they had to find the Jongro Taekwondo Academy and had to break three wooden planks each. I wasn’t expecting there to be so much chaos (scratching that word cause that fucking Roviltwunt used that word full of ‘wit’) pandemonium going on trying to find the location. But it did, and finding this initial location pretty much painted how the order of pitstop was roughly going to be.

Once at the academy, almost everyone managed to break their planks with not much trouble. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the teams were allowed to actually keep their TaeKwonDo uniforms. I don’t think this ever happened in previous tasks that involve them wearing uniforms or outfits. They next had to take a taxi and go to Jagalchi Market and find a clue near the Golden Pig statue. Teams were cautioned that Yield was ahead. They were so much smack talk coming from Sawaka and Daichi, and also Paula and Natasha about yielding the Dancing Mums. I’m still trying to figure out where much of the hatred were coming from.

I thought nobody was going to really yield anybody, but Terri and Henry yielded… Marc and Roviltwat, which was surprising considering Marc and Roviltwat had already arrived there. However, as some viewers have pointed out, (thanks MrsG!), it might’ve been a calculated risk on their part, since they can’t really tell if Marc/Roviltwat is either ahead of or behind them - and if any teams needed to be yielded, these two were definitely the ones because they are becoming incredibly dangerous and super incredibly annoying in this race. So, in short, the yield was wasted in this leg.

The next detour was to either (1) Slither - where they had to fish for two tokens from a tank full of slimy octopus, or (2) Deliver - where they had to eliver food to three different addresses. All of the teams performed Slither. I mean, after watching a gazillion episodes of Amazing Race, 99.99% of the time, delivering things to places with weird addresses is NEVER a good thing to do.. so I was surprised when Daichi and Sawaka opted to do it. I was also laughing my ass off when Natasha screamed “OMG the octopuses are mating!”. (I don’t know why.. but I miss Aurelia.. imagine the even weirder stuff that she could’ve said here).

They next had to travel through the APEC building to get a clue. The next clue leads them to the final roadblock in this leg. Teams had to travel to Yongdusan Park, where a gatekeeper will hand them a key, and they need to find a matching lock on the gate (they were probably around a hundred locks there?). Pretty unoriginal and lame considering this has been done before on the season with Romber on it - and at least THAT one gave an actual chance for teams to catch up (they must’ve had over a thousand locks there). Finally teams had to get on a taxi and head to the final pitstop of this race. In the order of arrival at the pistop :

1. Marc & Roviltwunt - they’re pretty competent racers and have been really lucky. Both are still douchebags though, what with the camera whoring through and through. I mean, they’re aware the cameras are there, I get it. But stop shoving the unfunnny and lame antics down our throats. For fucks sake.. I have had enough of this team. Bring back Edwin and Monica!
2. Adrian & Collin - I really wished this team had won this leg. Bravo on them for stealing the cabs away from the twunts.
3. Terri & Henry - As MrsG had commented on Sucks (hahahahah welcome to the dark side!!!!!), someone must’ve dropped her some happy pills this episode, cause she didn’t even screech once! Bravo! And they did relatively well this episode.. Now, finally, I can root for this team back again. Let’s just hope the happy pills effect will last a couple of episodes at least, huh?
4. Pam & Vanessa - I’m still loving the Chong sisters. Hearing them speaking in pseudo-Scottish in the cab was kinda cute. Now I’m kinda glad it wasn’t an actual pitstop in the last episode, cause that would’ve spelt the end for this team.
5. Paula & Natasha - They’re getting more visible now.. perhaps because the teams are dwindling down.
6. Ann & Diane - I was pretty certain that this team was FUCKED halfway through the episode. And the hatred from Daichi and Sawaka was totally justified from how the moms’ faked their dialogues to mislead the team. But can you blame them? You’re the second last team, you HAVE to do everything you can to stay in the game. Things are not looking so good for this team.. too many bad ju-jus from their editing.
7. Daichi and Sawaka - Truthfully, I was totally sad to see them leave, especially Sawaka who’s heart, as you can all see, was really in this race (the farewell song was unnecessary.. but that’s okay). They rocked the first half of the race, and lady luck was certainly not smiling on them in Korea.

That said, no matter how good racers Marc and Roviltwat are, I honestly don’t see how anyone can get behind this team. They are probably my most hated TAR team ever, even surpassing Victoria and her abusive husband Jonathug.

I will leave all of you with this amazing Lost recap (Seasons 1 - 3) since season 4 will be premiering in a couple of days.

Well, I’m back from Bali (it was fun, a little overrated, but still fun nonetheless, and I’ll be back there again for sure). Was (un)fortunate enough to catch Asian Idol while I was there. I wasn’t too thrilled about Jac’s performance. I mean, it was really good, but I thought Mike did slightly better.. and I was already resigned to the possibility that Jac might not win. Call me unpatriotic, but that’s how I truly felt at the time. Of course, that didn’t prepare me for the laughable results that came on Sunday. LOL Oh well, c’est la vie, no?

I caught the Episode 4 of TARA2 earlier this week.. and my intense burning hatred for Marc/Roviltwat has increased a hundred times over. Their little skit at the pit stop last week, was vomit inducing sickening.Fucking mediawhores. I’m going to miss Sophie/Aurelia. One of the more interesting team dynamics we’ve had this year. It would NOT have been the same if Sophie had gone on to the show with her original partner. I’ll miss Aurelia’s antics. No new English words for her, I guess.

Now, back to this week. Teams drive from Rotorua to Auckland and fly out to Tokyo. I was bloody excited because, we have NEVER had a dull Japanese leg! Japanese legs are always interesting no matter how SHITTY some of the teams are (yes, I’m looking at two teams in particular). The language barrier, and I know things are costly in Japan, so teams might have to really be careful with their spendings there (it’s interesting that TARA never tells the viewer how much money the teams are given at the beginning of each leg).

All teams are on the same flight to Tokyo. Once there they had to find their route marker at Shiba Park. Some of the teams got hopelessly lost and lost a lot of time looking for the route marker. Sucks to be them. They next had to direct a rickshaw to Sony Building in Ginza. Those rickshaw pullers must be the local Ironmen or something, cause they were definitely running through the streets. Next, the producers rather remarkably used the EXACT SAME CHALLENGE from Sydney last year, where they had to sing the Sakura song with a public, and recording it using a Sony Handycam. Lack of creative juice, much? They should fucking consult with the producers of the Kelly Osbourne goes to Japan show. Lazy dumbass producers.

Speaking of Kelly Osbourne, (I love that show, btw, she’s like a slightly grounded version of that overexposed Hilton bitch), the next clue was to identify a Cosplay girl. Once they found that, it was a detour between (1) Catch It - where they had to catch 40 goldfish using a paper sieve thingy, or (2) Cart It - where they had to deliver a kimono somewhere. Next was a roadblock, where they had to go to Icebar Tokyo and rearrange icecube clues to form a Japanese city. The clue turns out to be Fukuoka, where they had to travel to Fukuoka using the bullet train.

All teams were bunched together on the same train which leaves the next day, and it was a taxi ride race to the next pitstop at the Pyramid International Congress Centre. In the order of arrival at the pitstop

1. Ann and Diane
2. …

Unfortunately for the Dancing Mums, Allan announced that the race is going to continue.. which means this was a To Be COntinued leg. What a bummer.. Anyway, my commentaries on the teams (in no particular order):

• Ann and Diane - the nasty comments from the other teams with regards to Diane was kinda surprising. Who knows what really goes on during the race. Maybe they know something that we don’t? Some foreshadowing? It bothers me more that they said Diane was fake.. Mmmm like.. hello? Have you guys not met Roviltwat? Aaanyway, the team did fairly well as they were consistently in the 3rd or 4th spot throughout the race
• Collin and Adrian - also another team which has maintained their position in the race. Well done, lads! Nothing more on them this week. They just seem nice and pretty competent.
• Paula and Natasha - They had a couple of nasty luck at the beginning of the leg, but remained calm throughout. Pretty girls but still boring. However, I could live with them possibly winning this thing.
• Pamela and Vanessa - Aiyoo this team is getting to be very da kalut! Really bad luck in the beginning of the race. Pamela, sorry to say this, but she did one of the biggest blunders ever in the game by leaving her clues almost intact at the final roadblock. She should thank her lucky stars they weren’t headed directly to the pitstop. I mean, come on, wouldn’t YOU ‘cheat’ too if the person before you just basically left you the deciphered answer?
• Sawaka and Daichi - I personally LOVE seeing this team in their element. And when Sawaka spoke Japanese to the cab driver.. omg.. so sweet. I kinda wish they had won this leg of the race.. but who knows, they’ll most likely catch up in the next episode.
• Terri and Henry - No comment on Henry. As for Terri.. well.. here’s a perfect summation : Ugly on the outside AND Ugly on the inside. What with her couldnt give a flying fuck face, and her shitty attitude and her talk about quitting. Man.. the TAR producers really did perfect casting with this bitch. I didn’t think anyone could top Flo as the whiniest and most annoying TAR bitch ever, but they found this little Asian shit nugget. Bravo.
• Marc and Roviltwat - omg.. where the fuck do I start. My skin crawled when hearing him commenting “Yeah that’s hot” while watching the video in which he sang with an unfortunate member of the public. This guy is so obsessed with himself, especially evident with all his scripted one-liners and unwitty dialogues. To make my point clearer, let me quote what supersync4d (a Sucks poster) said “Roviltwat is so delusional he thinks everything that comes out of his orifice is fucking witty. I can just see him taking a dump in the toilet giggling and thinking “fuck, that’s one witty piece of shit right there. GOD I’M AWESOME”“. And the thing is, you KNOW that’s fucking true. The ‘nipple action’ comment, the synchronized ‘yawning’ at the train station, the bowing at the statue, the fucking moustache skit in the taxi. OMFG!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE NOT FUCKING WITTY! YOU ARE NOT FUCKING FUNNY! STOP FUCKING PLAYING IT UP FOR THE FUCKING CAMERA YOU FUCKING DOUCHE! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND THANK THE LUCKY STARS THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST DECENT LOOKING BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD… SHUT.THE.HOLY.MOTHER.FUCKING.UP.ALREADY.SONOFABITCH!
• Allan Wu - I’ve got nothing to say on this.. (space reserved for MrsG)

Well, can you blame me? I’m off to Bali tomorrow and I haven’t packed shit yet. Anyway, random thoughts on the latest episode of TAR 12…

• Yay for Christina for getting to 1st place (not so much for Hernia prick)
• My love for the Goths knows no bound - and the previews of Kunt blowing a gasket in the next episode is looking awesome
• Jen and Nate still sucks
• Grandad is THE man.. grandson proves to be useless for the thousandth time
• TK and Rachel are boring pieces of shits. They’re just.. there.. in a who gives a fuck kinda way.
• Hank Azaria was screwed by the planes.. tough shit. But the airport drama this week was INTENSE.

And this one’s just for miki… I LOVE this screencap from the week before :

Since I’ll be in Bali for the rest of this week, looks like I’m going to miss the next episode of TAR Asia, which sucks.. cause truthfully, I AM finding this season pretty interesting. However, the fucking TARA editing team needs some fucking lesson in making previews… what is the fucking point of showing which teams will be arriving happily at the next pitstop? They have basically given away which teams do NOT get eliminated in the next episode.. and I’m not happy. Dumbasses.  Oh and I forgot to mention, Allen Wu’s hushed voice at the haunted forest last week totally reminds me of that guy from Misteri Nusantara… LOL.

Survivor China is coming to an end. The penultimate episode will air this Thursday, and the finale will be aired on Sunday. I haven’t been following spoilers this season, so I have no idea who will win.. but I have to say, this has been one of the BEST seasons to have aired since Pearl Islands.. and that’s saying a lot. And also… I received my China buffs in the mail today. Woohoo!

What in the hell exactly was the point of having that Hong Kong leg? Just so that they can boast they TARA2 went to x + 1 countries? HK truly is the new Singapore (where they had the useless car wash challenge in TARA1). Absolutely pointless to the viewers (even though I bet it must’ve been fun for the racers).

Okay, let me go back where the episode started. Teams left Manila, their last pitstop, and had to travel to Hong Kong. All teams were bunched up on a CATHAY PACIFIC plane out. There was some unnecessary, forced and scripted drama by Terri and Henry at the airport (Terri mostly). Seriously, that woman needs to STFU and tone it down. Anyway, once in Hong Kong, they had to find their clue at the Central Pier.

Now, you’d THINK that having the ‘home advantage’ to the Hong Kong team (technically, Sophie’s Singaporean and Aurealia’s French.. so whatev), but surprisingly, they were the last one to get the clue. I guess, sometimes being on your own turf can backfire you if you overthink stuff. The next task is to go to the STANDARD CHARTERED Bank to correctly count the local currency. GOD! I fucking loathe counting challenges.. Kudos to all teams who finished it, cause I sure as hell would sucked mucho at it. After that challenge, teams had to fly out to Auckland, New Zealand. All bunched up again on bloody CATHAY PACIFIC.

Now, I fucking ask you again. What the HELL was the bloody point in having that leg??? #%@^!%RAGE!@#&@!&*

Once in Auckland, they had to drive themselves to the Howick Historical Village in Pakuranga. Once there, they had to use a SONY CYBERSHOT to take three pictures of (1) Rob McLane - which turns out to be a portrait (2) Mary Syms - which turns out to be a tombstone (3) A Poke For A Pig - which turns out to be a little signboard. Now  I must say that this was a really interesting challenge! The not so interesting aspect of it, was the clue giver with his wooden and robotic “Your Evidence Is Correct. Here is the next clue” speech. Mmm no, I’m not referring to Allan Wu for once (who’s actually getting better - wow..  It doesn’t actually hurt me to say that now).

After that challenge, teams are faced with a roadblock where they had to Bungee Jump off Auckland Bridge - which looks so awesome! And editing has not been kind on Terri this week, cause I absolutely abhored her edit. She wants to do the roadblock, and once she finds out it was a bungee jump, she wants out of it.. and was quickly to point fingers to other people. Man, what a beeyotch. But to her credit, she manages to go through it. I was laughing hysterically when Henry’s lines of “You’re goddamned right I should be the one to do it” was translated to “JAHANAM”. OMGFLMFAO. The bungee jump was nice, but I would’ve loved it even more if they did the Zorb thingy (not sure if that’s in Auckland or not though). Also.. Aurelia had her lovely snarky comment of “Hmm no sound”.. when the apparently emotionless Sophie jumped off the bridge.

The detour comes next.. a task between (1) Wall - to scale a rock climing wall, or (2) Waka - to paddle through a canoe course. I’ll be the first one to say that I know for a FACT that my lardass won’t be able to do the rock climbing. I’m surprised that many teams even tried it out in the first place. Rock climbing is hard, people. And I knew I would’ve aced the canoeing challenge. Hey, I did not practice in the Muar River (complete with shards of broken glass) for two years for nothing, alright. Once the detour was over, I started to think if this episode was ever going to end.

But it went on. They needed to find the Ascention Vineyard along the Matakana road. Once there, they get a clue saying they needed to go through the super lame-o Spookers Haunted House to retrieve their next clue. The clue then points to the next pitstop for this leg of the race, which is only a foot path away from the Haunted House to the equally lame-o Forest Of Fear. The editing tried to fool us that there would be a close race between the 2nd last team (who got lost really bad) and the last team (who were trailing badly since they started the New Zealand race).. but I’m guessing most of us, aren’t fools.

In the order of arrival at the pitstop :

1. Mark & Rovilson - I still think they are TOO aware that the cameras on them and are trying their best to come off as.. I don’t know.. the perfect team to root? Not for me though. Rovilson articulating every single word is starting to grate on me. Scripted. Scripted. Scripted. That said, they came in first again this leg.. so I have to admit that they’re pretty good racers. Don’t mean that I like them though.
2. Adrian & Colin - I’m super glad this team finally got their big break. The hours spent at the gym really gave them an added advantage at the rock climbing detour. That detour boosted them from 5th place to 2nd? Pretty impressive, I must say.
3. Ann & Diane - 3rd place for 3 weeks in a row. Wow.. is this some kind of record? Not only on TARA, but on TAR as well? I’m super super impressed by this team. Go dancing mommies! I hope they’ll waltz their way into the 1st place next time.
4. Paula & Vanessa - I’m still finding this team a little meh. It’s unexplainable. But they did relatively well in this leg too. Bravo!
5. Terri & Henry - She reminds me of Sandra Diaz Twine - which is a bad thing, cause I happen to like Sandra. I do NOT like Terri. She spouts off too damn much for my liking. It was endearing and funny to watch the first two episode.. but after this episode… I’d rather be stuck in a room with Blackadder the Third and tortured with a VERY SHARP PENCIL again and again and again, than hear her whine and scream.
6. Daichi & Sawaka - Not getting a lot from them this week. They’re okay I suppose.
7. Pamela & Vanessa - The accident was unfortunate, cause it looked like they were in 4th place going into this final task. Not exactly sure what happened, but it kinda looked to me like it WAS their fault, but who knows. It’s amazing that whenever TARA is in New Zealand, the police always gets called, huh? Remember Andy and Laura? Yep.. ANDYLAU FOR AMAZING RACE ASIA ALL STAR!!!!
8. Sophie & Aurelia - I liked Sophie a lot more than Aurelia in the first episode, but that turned really quick. Sophie looked like a seriously uptight bitch in that episode.. always whining and complaining about her teammate. But in all fairness, I think that’s exactly how I would be if.. I mean, when, I get on this race. But for her to say that “I would rather give up this race”.. I’m sorry but that is SO NOT COOL in my books.
9. Brett & Kinar (eliminated) - *yawnsies* give me a thousand Mardys and Marsios over a boring mactor couple any time, any day. I was snickering on their closing statements, that ‘we never ever give up’, when just two minutes before that, they showed Kinar saying she’s quitting the task. Mmmm okay.  I’m not exactly sure how this team got delayed so damn far behind, but honestly? I’m not bothered by it.

It seems like we’ve been stuck in Ougadougou for years now, haven’t we? The teams are finally getting out of Burkina Faso, and they were to fly to Lithuania! I was quite surprised that they’re turning back to Europe, but it’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Lots of ticketing drama, where teams were divided into three different flights from Ougadougou to Paris (the via either Amsterdam or Frankfurt or Prague). Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter much since all the teams arrived in Lithuania with 45 minutes of each other.

Once in Vilnius, Lithuania, teams need to find a marked car (I think they were given Mercedes Benzs.. lucky bastards) and drive themselves to St Anne’s Church to find their next clue. I still find it amazing that some racers still refuse to (1) get a good map (2) ask for directions (3) pay a taxi driver to lead the way, to get to their destinations. Yes, yes, I know everytime they stop to do all those stuff, they’d have to spend extra time getting the other people to sign release forms and what nots, but in the end, I personally think it would be worth it.

The clue points them to a roadblock (Who’s a Better Listener), where one of them has to listen for clues given by some ladies, deliver a basket of fruits and bread, then listen to their second clue, to deliver a book (?). A pretty meh roadblock, but it was interesting to note that Nicholas is proven to be useless yet again. He was the first to start the roadblock, and the last to complete it. Why the hell am I not surprised? And I thought the grandpa would be doing stuff at a snail’s pace. How wrong was I?

The next is a routemarker, where they had to find a Travelocity gnome hidden amongst hundreds of other regular gnomes near a farm house. Now this is a product placement that I can get behind to, because of the amazing extra bonus prize that they give away… (unlike the shitty ones on TARA). Once they find the gnome, they had to follow a marked parth to a church to find their next clue. The next clue is a detour between (1) Countdown - where they had to count the numbers of picket fences, or (2) Step Up - walk on stilts. Personally, I could NEVER do one of these ‘counting’ challenges. I just won’t be able to concentrate with all the pressure and shit. If I were to get on the actual race, a similar counting challenge would definitely be my downfall. Aaaaanyway, once the detour was over, they were to go to the Windmill to get to their pitstop for this leg of the race.

In the order of arrival at the pitstop :

1. TK & Rachel - This team met the ultimate fern in the earlier roadblock. It helped boost their team to 2nd place at the roadblock, and they went all out after that, landing them the 1st place, and the Travelocity bonus prize (a 10 fucking daytrip to Japan!). What a comeback.. from last place to first place. It shows that anything can happen in this race. Oh, and ferns fucking rule TAR!
2. Kynt & Vykxin - <3 <3 <3 Goth love! I don't know. You'd think this team would be the odd team out, but compared to the rest, they seem to be the more 'normal' and nicer teams out of the bunch. I was a little crushed that they didn't make it to first place.. but there's always next time. And Kynt's "Where's my costumes?" comment, umm... like he really needed one.
3. Ron & Chris - The Ron HATE still lives. I can’t believe he shouted “Don’t give me pressure! SILENCE S’IL VOUS PLAIT” to Christina during the roadblock. What a class A asshole this guy is. It’s unfortunate that his hernia didn’t pop out. That said, this team’s performance was rather impressive this week. So kudos to Christina.
4. Hank Azaria - <3 Not much to be said of this team, although we're starting to see friction between the two. Maybe it's the first time that they're not leading the pack? I'm just amazed they've been pretty cool with each other lately.. I'm pretty sure if I were to race under such pressure with my brother or sisters, I'd probably say "putus sedara" a gazillion times. And mean it.
5. Nate & Jennifer aka Cheater & Self Entitled Whore - < / 3 < / 3 < / 3 I'm glad this team didn't make it anywhere near the top spot. Their bickering while counting the picket fences was just crazy (and even though I hate both equally, I'd have to side with the Cheater). And I'm so fucking tired of them going IHATEYOU iloveyuo IHATEYOU iloveyou (reminds me of Monica mocking Rachel and Ross). In other words, nobody gives a flying fuck. And the next week's preview - Nate & Jenn reaches a breaking point - mmm yeah right. Oh and that's right. Nobody gives a flying fuck.
6. Nicolas & Donald - I like Donald, especially after he confessed to liking Mirna.. but his grandson is a total tool. He’s proven to be useless in no less than four times this particular episode alone (a) letting the Goths steal their taxi (b) not being a pushover with the ticketing person in Ougadougou (c) paltry performance at the roadblock (d) ditto on the detour (e) the suckiness of his general couldntgiveafuckimsolaidback attitude. It’s a shame cause I like grandpa a lot, but I can’t back this team.
7. Shana & Jennifer (philiminated) - Man, that Shana sure is a cunt, isn’t she. “Oh I’m good at counting”.. and then “You count.. if it’s wrong.. everything is on you”.. and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of her general cuntiness throughout this show. I’m glad the bitch is philiminated so that she can go back to her precious manicures and shit. Also, I’m enraged that the bus driver hit on the brakes just in time. Wouldn’t it be nice, if something like this woulda happened?

Also, can I just say that the previews for HOUSE is so fucking annoying?? I mean, I love Hugh Laurie in his BBC roles (especially Blackadder the Third), but I just HATE shows with eccentric characters like this (Becker and Monk comes to mind).