Hongkong guys win third Amazing Race Asia

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 US$100,000.

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 FLIGHT

Things changed when the 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, was 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?

“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.”