21 November 2008, Bangkok, Thailand - Throughout
The Amazing Race Asia 3, they have had the honour of being the first and the last team to leave the pitstop, win the only fast forward in the race, incur a penalty for not completing a challenge, get a permanent tattoo and now, best buddies
Vince Matthew Chung and
Samuel Wu have added another achievement in their race around the world, by being the first team from
Hong Kong to win
The Amazing Race Asia.In the grand finale of AXN's original production that aired on the channel last night, the 32-year-old friends edged out
Malaysian mothers Ida Nerina, 44, and best friend
Tania Khan, 36 as well as dating couple
Tisha Silang, 32, and
Geoff Rodriguez, 26, from the
Philippines, to claim the top spot and the cash prize of US0,000.
What was the most surprising of their win was that they were the dark horse in the last leg, having incurred a four-hour penalty for forfeiting a challenge in the previous leg. This put them in the last position and four hours behind the other teams when the final race started.
"We felt dejected at this point as we thought we had lost the game. I've never been pushed to my breaking point until now. But you know what they say... The first shall be last and the last shall be first! This memorable quote was mentioned to us during the first three challenges where we were continually in last place during the very first leg in Bangkok. And so we pushed on, and I'm glad that we did," says
Vince, a comedian and host living in Hong Kong.
FINAL FLIGHTThings changed when teams had to catch a flight to
Thailand, the final destination in the race.
Sam and Vince arrived at the airport in the nick of time, and managed to get on board a flight to Thailand - one that was close to taking off. And lo and behold, it so happened to be the same flight that fellow competing team,
Geoff and Tisha, were on. This put the guys back on a whirlwind track to victory.
"The timing was unbelievable," says
Sam, a Singaporean university lecturer now teaching in Hong Kong. Alas, the
Malaysian moms found themselves on a different, later flight, which
eventually led to their early removal from the race. But as this season has shown, the race is full of surprises. How else would viewers explain how the
self-proclaimed "unfit" team of Singaporeans A.D. and Fuzzie make it as far as they did, or understand why several of the strong teams, such as
Malaysians Henry and Bernie, and
Thailand's
Mai and Oliver, were eliminated very early on.
"
The Amazing Race Asia 3 truly captures the spirit of competition.
Sam and Vince played the game really well with their
positive attitude, and showed us true sportsmanship besides bringing us some of the best TV moments in the show. This third season has sprung many surprises but it has been an overall exciting ride that is hard to compete!" Says Mr. Ricky Ow, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of SPE Networks - Asia.
Host
Allan Wu agrees, "Once again, this third season of
The Amazing Race Asia 3 exceeded my own expectations. We learned that anything can happen in the toughest race ever!"
And for the guys who have just won, the Race has been their greatest adventure and something that they will not be forgetting for some time.
"Winning
The Amazing Race Asia 3 is simply
phenomenal. It really pushed us way beyond our comfort zones and expectations, and thus, even lasting to the final leg is an achievement in itself. Winning the entire race was
definitely the cherry on top of an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime adventure," notes
Sam.
And for
Vince too, "It was
a grueling month of competition with many highs and lows but I truly cherished every moment. It was experience that
money cannot buy. Winning
The Amazing Race Asia 3 was an out of this world feeling! Thank you AXN for giving me the adventure of a lifetime."
Labels: Allan Wu, Bangkok, Geoff and Tisha, Ida and Tania, TARA3, Vince and Sam, Winners