Back to the race

MANILA, Philippines – After a lull of six years on the air, The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) returned to action this month, with 11 teams from six different Asian countries competing for the much-coveted prize of $100,000.

TARA 5 kicked off at the National Museum in Jakarta, Indonesia, the starting point of this season’s race. The 11 teams hail from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and, for the first time, Vietnam.

In a surprising twist, one team was already eliminated even before the race started. Life partners Lisa and Nicole Truong-Marchetto from Vietnam did not get the chance to do any of the challenges, after they failed to find the right compass at the starting point. The elimination was rather unfortunate since it was the first time that a team from Vietnam joined TARA.

Former schoolmates Brandon Ho and Alphaeus Tan from Malaysia arrived first on the mat. Meanwhile, eliminated after the first leg were siblings Rei and Keiji Umehara from Singapore. The leg culminated near the Lotus Pond overlooking the Bogor Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

Singapore-based Chinese-American actor Allan Wu returns to host the reality show for the fifth season. He is joined by Indonesian film actress Tara Basco as co-host. The tandem marks the first time, too, that a pair is co-hosting the race in any territory.

Two dynamic teams from the Philippines are in the line-up of participants in TARA 5. They are former It’s Showtime! host Eric “Eruption” Tai and his wife Rona Samson, as well as former beauty queens Parul Shah and Maggie Wilson-Consunji.

Maggie was Binibining Pilipinas World 2007, while Parul was Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2014. The ladies were the seventh to arrive at the Pit Stop in the first leg, while couple Eric and Rona finished fourth.

The other teams are dating pair Tom Barrett (photographer) and Anita Bye (student) from Thailand and popular radio DJs Jerald Justin “JK” Kho and Mike Tan from Singapore.

There are two more teams from Malaysia: Brothers Alex and Will Chee as well as beauty queens/best friends Yvonne Lee and Chloe Chen. Chloe and Yvonne were winners in Miss World Malaysia in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Then, there are two teams from Indonesia — travel host Rachel Tampubolon and radio announcer Vicky Harahap; and childhood friends Luisa Kusnandar (TV host) and Treasuri Tamara (lawyer).

TARA will go to the Philippines on its ninth leg. Other places to be covered are Singapore, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Taipei in Taiwan, West and East Java in Indonesia and ending in Bali, Indonesia.

TARA Season 5 airs on AXN. The race in Southeast Asia is definitely not less grueling as the previous ones and promises to be as intense and nerve-wracking, with adrenaline-pumping challenges in every leg.

Noticeably, there are no teams from Hong Kong this season. It will be remembered that the pair from Hong Kong — good friends Vince Chung and Sam Wu — won the third season of TARA in 2008.

Meanwhile, Filipino friends Richard Herrera and Richard Hardin were the last champions of TARA in 2010. The race premiered in Asia 2005, with co-workers Zabrina Fernandez and Joe Jer Tee from Malaysia as the first winners.

The first year saw the consequently disappointing finish of two teams from the Philippines. Married couple Ernie and Jeena Lopez were the first to be eliminated, followed by the team of actress Aubrey Miles and model-friend Jacqueline Yu.

In TARA Season 2, Singaporean gym buddies Adrian Yap and Collin Low were the champions. Teams from the Philippines included celebrity best friends Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez, who finished as a strong third placer, and married couple Henry and Terri Reed, who ended up in sixth place.

Dating pair Geoff Rodriguez and Tisha Silang came in second place in TARA 3. In TARA 4, Filipino models and party girls Jacinta James and Lani Pillinger finished in fourth place.