6 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM LEG 9 OF THE AMAZING RACE PHILIPPINES SEASON 2

It is the 2nd to last leg and the last team was eliminated. The top 3 teams who will race to the finish line has just been revealed. So what did we learn from this leg of the race?

1. Finally, Team Mr. Pogi wins a leg!

After having a very shaky start and steadily inching their way up the rankings, Team Mr. Pogi won a race leg. As I have said in my previous post, what is working for them in this race is their teamwork and communication. But what was evident in the past few legs was that they really know their strengths and weaknesses and they are maximizing these. Plus their positive attitude and very calm disposition, they are really in the race now!

2. YIELD should not discourage you at all.

If Team Dating Couple did not have the Yield this leg, they might have won this leg, or it might have been a footrace. They really proved that nothing can stop them and even if the teams are ganging up on them, they will find a way to overcome the obstacles on their way. If there will be a Yield or a U-Turn on the last leg (which  I wish there will be none), this team will definitely still be the target. One thing they still need to improve is their communication, because it has been a factor going against them in the last few legs.

3. You should not ever give up - unless the you are eliminated.

Team Chefs has some unlucky things going their way in this leg, from the pastel challenge to getting the clue in the white water rafting to the bike challenge to the combination lock challenge, Team Chefs was trailing almost the whole leg. But it was in the combination lock challenge that Chef Roch almost gave up. After trying so many times and she was not able to open any of the locks, she almost broke down and got frustrated. But luck is still in their side when she was able to finish the challenge on her next try. But they were able to overtake another team in the last challenge. They need to be more confident of themselves in the last leg if they want to win the race.

4. Word of the day - MALAS

Team Magkapatid has been a very strong team all through out the race. They have been in the top 3 in all of the legs. Unfortunately, their race ended in this leg - when they finished fourth just because of the word "malas". But what they said in the pit stop was correct. They were not one of the teams that I initially picked to win - but they proved themselves leg after leg that they are a team that the other teams should not overlook. They communicated very well and they were very strategic, offering alliances and working with other teams on who to Yield or U-Turn. They ran a great race but there will only one winner and today is not their day.

5. The Amazing Race Philippines is just intense!

We have been witnessing so much intensity and competitiveness in the past 9 weeks that the season has been aired. But this leg also show how intense the race is even off camera. There was an injury that needed to be attended to - after Chef Eji injured his knee in the carabao race task in leg 8. But the fight between Team Magkapatid and Team Dating Couple showed how much emotions the teams are investing in this race. It just started with a simple high and escalated to shoving, shouting and threats. And that is really intense!

6. 1 more episode - who will win the race?

Now that we know that the top 3 teams are Team Mr. Pogi, Team Dating Couple and Team Chefs, who will win this race? The winner will be known in the 1 hour special finale episode tomorrow. These are 3 strong teams that will race to the finish and tomorrow's episode will definitely be an exciting one! No predictions, I don't want to jinx any of the teams - but I definitely think all of the 3 remaining teams deserve to win!

Images are from the following: @margienatividad in Twitter, Team Magkapatid's Official Facebook Page, 

THE PANTONE COLOR FOR THE YEAR 2015 IS...

According to Cosmopolitan Philippines website, the pantone color of the year is... Marsala (Pantone 18-1438)!

According to the Wall Street Journal article, this color was chosen because women are looking for a bold neutral color that can replace black. This color is also complimented by glacier gray and aquamarine.

Image is from the Cosmopolitan Philippines article.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ANTI-TEEN PREGNANCY PSA OF DOH?

The Department of Health recently launched a public service announcement on teenage pregnancy. I agree that teenage pregnancy is one concern that government should prioritize. But the DOH already deleted the video from their facebook page.

Fortunately, When In Manila YouTube Channel uploaded the video. So here is the video:

So what do I think of this video? It is a complete waste of tax payer's money. Did DOH really think calling their target audience as "Gaga Girl" and "Bobo Boy" will get their attention? You just lost your audience in the first 20 seconds of the video!

The government agencies should be very careful on the message they want to convey in their PSA's. They are using tax payer's money and this should be maximized. So how much was wasted in this video? Your guess is as good as mine.

8 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM LEG 8 OF AMAZING RACE PHILIPPINES SEASON 2

We are now down to the homestretch of the race - after leg 8 was finished last Saturday. So here are the things we learned in the week before the finale week.

1. Team Dating Couple is now back on top.

Team Dating Couple is now back on top, and grabbed first for the 4th time in this race. The slowly inched their way to the top after finishing 5th in leg 5; to 4th, to 2nd - and now in 1st. They really proved they are the team to beat this season. But unfortunately, this would now put a big target in their backs in the final leg - and expect then to get the U-Turn or the Yield in the last leg of the race.

2. Team Magkapatid wins Most Consistent Team Award this season

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - this is how I feel about Team Magkapatid. They finished 3rd four times and 2nd four times during the entire leg but never finished first. The consistency is good since they never went down and remained competitive but when will they get that top spot? Yes, they have never been in danger of going home and they manage to stay at the top 3 spots - but only 1 team will be declared as the winners of this race. So they need too step up if they want to win in the race.

3. Team Chefs will not go down without a fight

In this leg, Team Chefs finished 3rd, barely beaten by Team Magkapatid at the pit stop. Team Chefs has been very competitive in the past few legs but has been very inconsistent. They have gone up then down then up again in the rankings. What is working for them is their teamwork and their positive attitude but they can easily panic at some points. Will Chef Eji's knee injury which prevented them to race for 2nd place in this leg affect their race as well?

4. Team Mr. Pogi is the favorite underdog in this race

Team Mr. Pogi completed the cast of 4 teams that will race in the finale week. Who would have thought that this team will reach the last week? They have been in the bottom half of the pack in the first 6 legs of the race and was almost eliminated in leg 4. But these Miracle Boys, as they have coined themselves, have surprised us by steadily making their way up the rankings. Their good teamwork and positive attitude has been working wonders for this team but what is making miracles for them is their good luck. In the Rock task, they easily got their clue even if they got the trivia questions wrong. Thy were so lucky that when the rocks were unloaded, the clue was swept away by the wind and was not covered by the rocks. This gave them an edge over Team Nerds and eventually advanced to the finale week.

5. Double Elimination leg - I never saw that twist coming!

I was doing the math last week since it was advertised that there is only 2 weeks remaining for the show. Therefore, there will be 2 or 3 more eliminations before the last episode. But I never thought that there will be a double elimination. This has been done before in the US version (Season 10 Leg 1 - but one in the middle of the leg and another in the pit stop and in Season 19 Leg 2), I did not see this coming at all. To make it more surprising, the teams eliminated were Team Nerds and Team Mag-ama - two of the most competitive teams in the race. It was really sad to see both of these teams go. Team Nerds surprised everyone when they finished 1st on the first leg but they just cannot recover from the back of the pack. On the other hand, Team Mag-ama has been doing very well but has been the target of the Yield since they are a very strong team, and this really affected their race.

6. Eye on the prize!

This leg was a great leg and a very challenging one. One of the things that struck me the most was that this leg emphasised how important our eyes are. In the Batchoy challenge, it was keen observation and an eye for details that was key to get the next clue. Team Dating Couple and Team Mag-ama wasted so much time looking for clues every where in and out of the store - not paying attention to this small sign where they will find the next clue. In the Blindfold challenge, teams got a taste on what a blind person is experiencing everyday. And it was really touching to see the teams' reaction when they saw Tammy and Marvi.

 7. All teams are in game mode already

The race is on! This is what leg 8 showed us. All teams are in it to win it. In the ferry to Iloilo, the teams all agreed to U-Turn AJ and Jody since they are a strong team and they were saved from elimination. In the Batchoy challenge, no team shared the clue when they found the small sign on the store's wall. In the Zombie task, no information was shared by the teams when they found the clue. Team Mr. Pogi even lied to Team Mag-ama. This only shows that even a slight advantage can be used to get ahead and it is critical since the race is in the home stretch already.

8. The last leg promises to be an intense and emotional one

The last week will always be the best. The preview for the last leg promises so much - someone will get hospitalized, teams will fight and the race for the grand prize will be concluded. A few more days left before we get to know the season winners!

Images are from @margienatividad in Twitter

MISS PHILIPPINES WINS MISS EARTH 2014

Miss Philippines Jamie Herrell beat 84 other candidates to win Miss Earth 2014.

Other winners include Miss USA as Miss Earth - Air, Miss Venezuela as Miss Earth - Water and Miss Russia as Miss Earth - Fire.

Here is the video of the pageant from the Rappler YouTube Channel:

Congratulations to all of the winners!

THE AMAZING RACE SEASON 25 IS IN SINGAPORE, GUESS WHO IS THE PIT STOP GREETER!

The US version of the hit reality show The Amazing Race, now on its 25th season, aired its 9th leg today. The leg is in Singapore and I saw a very familiar face with Phil Keoghan at the pit stop.

So who is this familiar face?

It is Singaporean actress Melody Chen, who was a racer from the 1st season of the Amazing Race Asia. She raced with her bestfriend Sharon, and finished 7th in that season.

It is nice to see that the Amazing Race franchise is merging the different versions in different kinds of ways.

And guess where they are headed next? They will be in my home country, the PHILIPPINES! They will be coming here for the 2nd time, and after 20 seasons! And to top it all, they will be bringing back the unforgettable PLOW detour task in Leg 11 of Season 5, where Colin coined the famous line, "My ox is broken!".

Can't wait for the next episode!

AZKALS BLANKS INDONESIA, ADVANCES TO THE SEMIS OF THE 2014 AFF SUZUKI CUP

The Philippine Azkals completed another historic win by a 4 - 0 rout of neighbor Indonesia in the group stage of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup. This marks the first time that the Philippine side beat Indonesia after 8 long decades.

The first goal was from a penalty kick in the 16th minute. This is the only gal scored before half time. At the second half, the Azkals was relentless with 3 more goals from Manny Ott (52'), Martin Steuble (68') and Rob Gier (79'). The Indonesia side was not able to provide an answer up to the closing whistle.

With this win, Azkals is the first team to advance to the semis of this tournament and will play a home and an away game next month.

Here are the highlights of the game from the AFF Suzuki Cup YouTube channel :