The Amazing Race Asia continues

It’s that time of the year again! The Amazing Race Asia is definitely on. An early teaser showed the familiar clue box on top of a sky-high rock formation, host Allan Wu rock successfully climbing up to it, and declaring Season 3 as “the toughest race ever.” To stir up enough excitement for the September 11 premiere on AXN Asia, we’re now being treated to promotional spots powered by a ten-team stream of adrenaline rushes in the form of do-or-die scenarios.

Just like in the past TARA seasons, this year’s teams are made up, expectedly, of a handful of beauty queens and a lot of media personalities. Thailand has two teams this year. This season’s tag-team beauties are Natalie & Pailin, with the latter being Miss Universe 2005 (representing Canada) and the former being her runner-up (representing Thailand). The other Thai team, however, doesn’t do so badly in the looks department either. Best buds Mai & Oliver are both models, although Mai’s making a name for herself in acting too.

India also has two teams competing, both with a touch of showbiz. There’s Neena & Amit. A former flight attendant, Nina’s a model and artist, while her cousin Amit is in real estate. Their relationship is more like brother and sister, so we can expect a fair share of family bickering. And speaking of family bickering, we can also expect some of that from the other Indian team, Niroo & Kapil, who are father and son respectively. Niroo is an actor-slash-director, while Kapil is an actor-slash-human-resources-executive. Kapil admits to having a short fuse, which he intends to keep under control as he races around the world with his always-in-control dad.

Representing Hong Kong are Sam & Vince. A university lecturer, Sam is apparently a genius with words, ranking as one of the top players in the online word game Prolific. Vince, on the other hand, is a primary school teacher turned comedian and host. The two are best friends, and with one of them a funny man, I’m pretty sure we’re in for some laughs.

William & Isaac are brothers from Korea. William is a sports television host, while Isaac is a sports agent who claims to be the biggest fan of The Amazing Race Asia. This is the first time a Korean team is joining, so I’m looking forward to what the brothers are going to bring to the table.

Making up the first half of Team Malaysia are Ida & Tania. Ida, an actress, and Tania, a property developer, are hot and successful power women who are obviously in the prime of their lives. Both are well traveled but neither has backpacked before, so it would be interesting to see how they will manage themselves as they run around the world in the toughest race ever. Also representing Malaysia are brother and sister Henry & Bernie. Older sibling Bernie is a chef, while Bernie is a TV host and actress who hosted Project Runway Malaysia last year.

Running for Singapore are long-time friends A.D. & Fuzzie. A.D. is a freelance writer-slash-director, while Fuzzie is an English teacher. What makes this team interesting is that they’re going to rely more on brain than brawn, being that they’re perhaps the most “un-physically fit” team, not just this season, but ever. In fact, Fuzzie had to lose some weight to prepare for the race. They’re undeniably this year’s underdog team, so they’ve got my second vote.

However, my real vote, as always, goes to Team Philippines, this time made up of sweethearts Geoff & Tisha, who are both media personalities. Geoff Rodriguez, a model, was a one-time actor, while Tisha had her fair share of media buzz when she had to relinquish her Bb. Pilipinas crown in 1998 because of nationality issues, and then, later, when she became the girlfriend of Paolo Bediones. Both are buff as hell, and they seem to have a steady and strong relationship that could help propel them to the finish line.

Let the race—and the wearing of funky nationalistic Pinoy shirts—begin!

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