#268 - TARA (top 5: part 1)

ENGLISH

Last night I watched the latest episode of The Amazing Race Asia. All 5 remaining teams now had to go from Krabi, Southern Thailand to Kolkata (or Calcutta), India (via Bangkok). Well, some teams didn't really look that excited to go to India, he3... :)

Once they arrived, they had to go to St. Teresa of Avila Church to find the next clue. On the way to the church, M&M's taxi's tire was blown-up!!! Arrrgghhh... . That incidence brought them to the last place. The next clue was a Road-Block, one member of the team had to shoe-shine 7 pairs of shoes at the minimum price of 5 Rupee at the Tollygunge Metro Train Station. After finishing the Road-Block task, they found out that the next challenge was eating challenge (well, Francesca, Syeon, and Zabrina swore (sh*t and cr*p) when reading the first sentence of the clue: "You Must be Hungry"). Current position: Andy&Laura (1), Sandy&Francesca (2), Zabrina&Joe-Jer (3), Andrew&Syeon (4), and Mardy&Marsio (5).

They had to make their way to Aaheli Restaurant at the Pearless Inn hotel where they had to consume a traditional Bengali meal (whew, the portion was so large and that just gave extra challenge for female racers). Laura, Syeon, and Zabrina (probably Francesca too) couldn't stand for it and threw up. Even M&M also found it rather hard because of the unfamiliar flavors. Sandy&Francesca were the first to finish the task, followed by Zabrina&Joe-Jer. After finishing this eating task, all teams had to go to Kanishka's Sari Boutique, and search amongst the rolls of fabric and hundreds of Indian saris for the next clue. Once they arrived, the boutique had already been close and they had to wait for the next day. All teams were equalized right now.

The next day, they arrived at Kanishka's Boutique before it's open (Andy&Laura got a taxi problem, but they arrived on time) and started to search for the clue. Andrew&Syeon were the first to find the clue. The next task was a Detour, teams had to choose between "CARRY" or "COUNT". Carry required the Teams to transfer 80 litres of milk by carrying it on their heads, while in Count, the Teams had to count the number of betel nuts in a basket. M&M were unfortunately the last to find the clue. Most teams chose "Count" while only Andy&Laura who chose "Carry". Andy&Laura's decision was a smart one. They finished first while the other teams had small problems in counting (they had to count thousand of betel nuts and they couldn't get it wrong to get the next clue) >> Zabrina&Joe-Jer were good at this, but unfortunately they got a bad taxi who didn't know the way to the market where they would do the "Count" challenge. Sandy&Francesca met it very very hard to finish the "Count" task, they miscount several times and swore several times also... :)

Then, Andy&Laura were the first to arrive at the mat (at Kolay Market) and met Allan Wu (the host) there saying the race was still on!! Therefore, this leg was a TBC (To Be Continued) leg or also known as super-leg.

I think that was exciting, the Detour task was so tricky. It looked like "Carry" was harder but actually it was not as hard as "Count". "Count" required carefulnes dan concentration in counting thousand of nuts. But, the pressure that it was still a race and crowded noisy market atmosphere was not really condusive to concentrate. If I were there, I would probably have also chosen "Count" since I thought in "Carry" we also had to deliver the milk to some customers' houses, that's insane, finding the way was almost impossible. It was apparently not. Well, talking about road, the traffic in India was A LOT worse than in Indonesia. There, it looked disorganized, even some cars / taxis used the railroad / trem road. Nuts!!!

::: St. Teresa of Avila Church

::: rushing Sandy&Francesca at St. Avila

::: Laura doing the Road-Block (Shoe-Shine) Task

::: Syeon doing the Road-Block (Shoe-Shine) Task

::: Bengali Traditional Food

::: Mardy drinking in the middle of finishing the eating challenge

::: Zabrina&Joe-Jer and Francesca&Sandy (back) doing the Detour Task, "Count"

::: Leader-Board. So Far, Andy&Laura got the highest point, followed by M&M.

::: Animated Board, this board shows how the position flipped during this leg.

Note: click each pic to enlarge (especially the boards, it's unclear to see them un-enlarged... :D)

These pics were taken from this official site. For the Leader-Board, special THX to Inan (one TARA forum member). For the Animated-Board, special THX to durengal (one TARA forum member).

BAHASA INDONESIA

Semalam aku nonton episode terbaru dari The Amazing Race Asia. Semua 5 tim yang tersisa harus pergi dari Krabi, Thailand Selatan menuju ke Kolkata (atau Kalkuta), India (via Bangkok). Hmm, beberapa tim kayanya ga terlalu tertarik deh untuk pergi ke India, he3... :)

Setelah mereka sampai, mereka mesti pergi ke Gereja Avila (Santa Teresa) dan menemukan petunjuk selanjutnya. Dalam perjalanan ke gereja, taksinya M&M pecah ban!!!Arrrgghhh... . Insiden ini membawa mereka ke posisi terakhir. Petunjuk selanjutnya adalah Road-Block, satu anggota tim harus menyemir 7 pasang sepatu dengan harga minimum 5 Rupee di Stasiun Kereta Metro Tollygunge. Habis menyelesaikan Road-Block, mereka mengetahui kalo tantangan selanjutnya adalah tantangan makanan (hmm, Francesca, Syeon, dan Zabrina misuh loh (Sh*t dan cr*p) ketika membaca kalimat pertama dari petunjuknya: "You Must be Hungry (Kamu Pasti Lapar)") Posisi sementara: Andy&Laura (1), Sandy&Francesca (2), Zabrina&Joe-Jer (3), Andrew&Syeon (4), dan Mardy&Marsio (5).

Mereka harus pergi ke Restoran Aehali di Hotel Pearless dimana mereka harus makan makanan tradisional Bengali (whew, porsinya besar banget loh dan itu memberikan tantangan ekstra untuk beberapa kontestan perempuan). Laura, Syeon, dan Zabrina (mungkin Francesca juga) nggak tahan dan muntah. Bahkan M&M juga merasakan itu lumayan susah karena bumbu yang nggak biasa. Sandy&Francesca adalah yang pertama yang selesai, diikuti oleh Zabrina&Joe-Jer. Setelah menyelesaikan tantangan makanan, mereka mesti pergi ke Butik Sari Kanishka's, dan mencari petunjuk mereka dari ber-rol-rol kain dan ratusan sari India. Saat sampai, ternyata butiknya udah tutup dan harus menunggu keesokan harinya. Semua tim menjadi seimbang sekarang.

Hari selanjutnya, mereka sampai di Butik Kanishka's sebelum butiknya buka (Andy&Laura mendapat masalah dengan taksi, tapi mereka sampai tepat waktu sih) dan memulai mencari petunjuk selanjutnya. Andrew&Syeon yang pertama menemukannya. Tugas adalah Detour, dan mereka harus memilih di antara "CARRY" atau "COUNT". Di Carry, mereka harus mengantar 80 liter susu dengan membawanya menggunakan kepala, sementara di Count mereka harus menghitung jumlah kacang di sebuah keranjang. M&M sayangnya adalah yang terakhir menemukan petunjuknya. Kebanyakan tim memilih "Count" sementara hanya Andy&Laura yang memilih "Carry". Keputusan Andy&Laura adalah keputusan yang pintar. Mereka selesai pertama dimana beberapa tim lain menemui masalah dengan menghitung (mereka harus menghitung ribuan kacang dan mereka nggak boleh salah untuk mendapat petunjuk selanjutnya) >> Zabrina&Joe-Jer sebenernya bagus sih, cuma sayangnya mereka dapat taksi yang payah yang nggak tau pasar dimana mereka harus melakukan tugas "Count". Sandy&Francesca yang kayanya paling kesulitan menyelesaikan tugas "Count", mereka salah beberapa kali dan misuh beberapa kali juga... :)

Trus, Andy&Laura adalah yang pertama sampai di karpet (di Pasar Kolay) dimana Allan Wu (pembawa acaranya) berada dan mengatakan kalau pertandingannya masih berlangsung!! Makanya, babak ini adalah babak TBC (To Be Continued) atau juga dikenal sebagai super-leg.

Menurutku seru sih, tugas Detour-nya bener-bener menipu. Kayaknya "Carry" lebih susah padahal sebenernya ga sesusah "Count". Di "Count" kan harus teliti dan konsentrasi dalam menghitung ribuan kacang. Padahal, tekanan bahwa itu pertandingan dan suasana pasar yang ribut mungkin ga memungkinkan untuk konsentrasi. Kalo aku mungkin juga akan milih "Count", soalnya pertama aku kira kalo di "Carry" juga harus nganter susu itu ke rumah konsumennya, kan gila tuh, nyari jalannya kan susah. Ternyata engga. Ngomongin jalan, ternyata lalulintas di India JAUH lebih parah daripada di Indonesia loh. Disana kesannya lebih gak beraturan dan seenaknya, malah jalan kereta / trem malah dipake buat nyetir mobil / taksi. Gila!!!