The Amazing Race Asia 5
The Amazing Race Asia 5 is the fifth season of "The Amazing Race Asia", a reality television game show based on the American series "The Amazing Race". The fifth installment of the show returned after a 6-year hiatus and featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across Southeast Asia to win US$100,000. The season premiered on 13 October 2016 and the finale aired on 15 December 2016. Allan Wu returned to host his fifth season of "The Amazing Race Asia" and eleventh season of "The Amazing  Race" franchise overall. Wu was paired up with Tara Basro, an Indonesian film actress in hosting this season while in Indonesia. Beauty queens Parul Shah and Maggie Wilson from the Philippines were the winners of this season, marking the Philippines's second consecutive win in "The Amazing Race Asia". Production. Development and filming. On 20 May 2016, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks Asia announced that "The Amazing Race Asia" would return for its fifth season after a six-year long hiatus and would be broadcast by AXN Asia. The tagline for this season was most adrenaline-fueled season ever. The  Minister of Tourism of Indonesia, Arief Yahya, revealed the season's destinations beginning in Jakarta and traveling to local Indonesian destinations along with Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila before finishing in Bali. There was a planned visit in Taipei, Taiwan but was scrapped within a last minute and replaced by Phuket, Thailand leg. This season covered , the shortest route of "The Amazing Race Asia", and mostly focused the competition in Indonesia, where the Starting Line and the Finish Line were held (the first time since Season 3 to do so in the same country, although the  Starting Line and Finish Line were located in different cities), with the remaining countries in Southeast Asia. Though both Wu and Basro were present at the Starting Line, Indonesian Deputy Minister of Tourism Sapta Nirwandar officially flagged the teams off. This was the first time in any edition worldwide that the host did not officially signal the start of the competition. Nirwandar also appeared at the Finish Line as a greeter. In other legs conducted in Indonesia, Basro would take the place of the greeter. Zabrina Fernandez & Joe Jer Tee, the winners of the first season, were the Pit Stop  greeters for Leg 3 in their home country of Malaysia. This season introduced a new twist: the Speed Bump. Similar to the American version, the team that placed last in the non-elimination leg had to perform a Speed Bump somewhere in the next leg before they could continue racing. This season also for the first time in "The Amazing Race Asia" to featured 11 teams, which the number 11th teams were eliminated at the starting line task (same as Season 15 of American version). This season was also the first time in "The Amazing Race Asia" that a U -Turn board was placed at the Detour decision point, during Leg 9, rather than after the Detour itself (the first time this twist was introduced in all franchises was in the tenth leg of the 27th American version). Leg 9 is also the first leg in all franchises of "The Amazing Race" where both Yield and U-Turn were present in the same leg. Casting. Casting began on 23 May 2016 and applications were closed on 30 June 2016 (18 days extended from the original deadline of 12 June 2016). Continuing the casting trend of the Asian franchise, the cast  once again consisted of numerous local celebrities or their relatives including 87.6 Hard Rock FM radio announcer Vicky Harahap, Philippines national rugby union team member and host of "It's Showtime" Eric Tai, Miss Grand International 2015 Parul Shah and Miss Philippines World 2007 Maggie Wilson, Miss Malaysia World 2011 Chloe Chen and Miss Malaysia World 2012 Yvonne Lee, "The 8TV Quickie" host Brandon Ho, "News One Prime Time" news anchor Louisa Kusnandar, Power 98 Radio DJs Jerald Justin "JK" Ko & Michael "Mike" Tan, and "UMeAndHara" YouTuber Rei Umehara. This is the first season not to feature a team from  Hong Kong, but also the first with a Vietnamese team. Yvonne Lee was seen dating host Allan Wu after the show. Marketing. Wonderful Indonesia, Grab, Garuda Indonesia along with Great Eastern Life were sponsors of the season. It was also the first season that was not sponsored by Sony or Caltex. Results. The list of teams with their relationships at the time of filming were announced on 28 July 2016 from the AXN website. Episode title quotes. Episode titles are often taken from quotes made by the racers. Where not named, the producers assigned the title. Prizes. Individual prizes were  awarded to the first team to complete certain legs. Race summary. Leg 1 (Jakarta → West Java). Airdate: 13 October 2016 This season's first Detour was a choice between Fix or Freight. In Fix, teams traveled to Fatahillah Square, where they had to fix and assemble an Onthel bicycle's tyre according to the example so that a child could ride it to receive their next clue. In Freight, teams traveled to the Port of Sunda Kelapa, where they had to fill a sack with sand in a traditional Indonesian pinisi and carry it to fill four barrels on  the dock and receive their next clue. Leg 2 (Jakarta → West Java). Airdate: 20 October 2016 This leg's Detour was a choice between Basket Bikes or Bandung Biathlon. In Basket Bikes, teams had to ride downhill along a bicycle trail and deliver two dozen sellable eggs in their baskets to the egg merchant to receive their next clue. However if any of the eggs broke along the way, teams would have to restart the entire task. In Bandung Biathlon, teams had to hit a set of targets with traditional bamboo guns while trekking uphill in a pair of  traditional tandem land skis, known as , to receive their next clue. In this season's first Roadblock, one team member had to comb a large section of a tea plantation to find a Wayang Golek, a traditional Indonesian puppet figurine, that they could exchange for their next clue. Leg 3 (West Java → Malaysia). Airdate: 27 October 2016 In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to rappel down the building of Great Eastern Tower and grab the flag attached on the building in exchange for their next clue. If racers missed the flag or dropped it, they had  to attempt the challenge again. This leg's Detour was a choice between Street Art or Street Play. In Street Art, teams had to ride a traditional trishaw around Armenian Street in George Town, Penang and find five Penang street arts in the city centre matching provided pictures. Then, they had to convince locals to take their picture at each of the murals to receive their next clue. In Street Play, teams traveled to Han Jiang Ancestral Temple. Then, they had to learn to perform a two-minute Chinese opera fight routine and perform it with a musical accompaniment to  the satisfaction of the judge to receive their next clue. Leg 4 (Malaysia → Thailand). Airdate: 3 November 2016 For their Speed Bump, Rach & Vicky had to enter the Phung Chang Cave, where they had to find an elephant statuette hidden inside the cave and return it before they could continue racing. The leg's Detour was a choice between Muay Thai or Un-Tie. For both Detour choices, teams traveled to Wat Tha Chat Chai, overlooking the Sarasin Bridge. In Muay Thai, teams had to learn a traditional Wai Kru ritual and perform it to the satisfaction of a  Muay Thai master to receive their next clue. In Un-Tie, teams had to first untie the knots on a rope. Then, by using a pontoon raft, teams had to cross the water from the shoreline to the floating village nearby by pulling themselves along an aerial rope course to retrieve their clue before they could return to the shoreline. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to remain still for 15 minutes while balancing a stack of coins on their backhands and head to receive their next clue; otherwise they had to start the task again. Leg  5 (Thailand → Vietnam). Airdate: 10 November 2016 This season's only Fast Forward told teams to go to Khu du lịch Bình Quới 1 in Bình Thạnh District and eat rice inside clay pots in an attempt to find a Vietnamese gold coin in one of the rice patties. For every clay pot they selected, they had break the clay pot and eat the contents before making another choice. The first team to find the coin would receive the Fast Forward award. This leg's Detour was a choice between Badminton Bash or Flower Power. In Badminton Bash, teams  travelled to Công Viên Tao Đàn, where they had to play badminton. If teams could score 10 points before their opponent scored 21 points, they would receive their next clue. In Flower Power, teams travelled to Hồ Thị Kỷ Flower Market. Then, they had to carry two empty baskets and find some flower stalls inside the flower market to gather some flowers. After they gathered all the flowers, they had to deliver the flowers to the flower retailer, H2 Flower Shop to receive their next clue. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to eat five courses of  Vietnamese exotic delicacies, rats, bats, centipedes, scorpions and lizards, to receive their next clue. Leg 6 (Vietnam → Philippines). Airdate: 17 November 2016 In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to ride a face-first zip line across the Abra River to hit a floating target underneath to receive their next clue. This leg's Detour was a choice between Longganisa Kalesa or Carabao Karaoke. In Longganisa Kalesa, teams had to stuff 15 traditional sausages, known as longganisa, while riding a kalesa, a traditional Filipino horse-drawn calash, and buggy through the ancient cobblestone streets towards Plaza Burgos . Once all the sausages were properly made and met the satisfaction of the judges, teams would receive their next clue. In Carabao Karaoke, teams had to learn the Ilocano version of the children's song "Six Little Ducks" while traveling on a carabao cart until they reached Plaza Burgos. At the plaza, teams had to perform in front of the crowd to the judge's satisfaction to receive their next clue. Leg 7 (Philippines → Singapore). Airdate: 24 November 2016 In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to change into a diving suit and dive into the Open  Ocean habitat tank, where they had to find a treasure chest. They would show a flash card of fish name inside the chest to their teammate outside the tank who had to search through several photos of fish and match one of the photos with the name of the fish taken from the chest to receive their next clue. This leg's Detour was a choice between Skate Rat or Drone Hat. In Skate Rat, one team member had to skate on an electric skateboard and complete a slalom course while carrying two trays of stacked cans without falling down  or disturbing the balance of the stacked cans to receive their next clue. In Drone Hat, one team member had to pilot a remote controlled drone helicopter and land it on a helipad placed on a helmet worn by their teammate to receive their next clue. Leg 8 (Singapore → Yogyakarta). Airdate: 1 December 2016 For their Speed Bump, Eric & Rona would be blindfolded and had to drink a cup of traditional Indonesian herbal concoction, known as jamu. After removing their blindfolds, they had to search among several bottles for one that held the same herbal concoction that they drank  before they could continue racing. In this leg's first Roadblock, one team member had to tightrope walk above the opening of Goa Jomblang. Then, in the middle of the tightrope, they had to climb down a rope ladder to retrieve their clue beneath them. Once they had retrieved their clue, they had to ascend back and return to be reunited with their partner before they could continue racing. Should the team member drop the clue or fall off from the tightrope, they had wait for their turn before they could continue the task over again. In this leg's  second Roadblock, one team member, regardless of who performed the previous Roadblock, had walk around the holiest inner zone of the temple compound while memorising the names and locations of the Hindu deities inside the temple. Then, they would be given the map of the temple compound and had to correctly label all the locations of the Hindu deities by their names to receive their next clue. Leg 9 (Yogyakarta → East Java). Airdate: 8 December 2016 In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to take part in the labour-intensive sulfur mining operation, where they had to  collect and carry sulfur slabs using two baskets on a pole to the crushing area. Then, they had to crush the slabs into smaller blocks, pack them inside sacks and carry them to the weighing area. Once they had collected of sulfur, they would receive their next clue. This season's final Detour was a choice between Dragon Horse or Human Bull. In Dragon Horse, teams had to participate in a traditional art of , where they had to fully decorate and dress up a horse typically used in a wedding ceremony procession. Once approved by the judge, they would go  to the procession and ride on a horse-drawn carriage before receiving their next clue from a newlywed couple. In Human Bull, teams had to transfer a handful of rice husk across the paddy field to an empty basket on the other side. However, they had to avoid the kebo-keboan, a human dressed up as a bull, that would block their way to the basket. Once the basket was full, teams would receive their next clue. Leg 10 (East Java → Bali). Airdate: 15 December 2016 In this season's final Roadblock, one team member had to arrange coconuts  with symbols of objects and places they encountered throughout the season (as well as misleading names and symbols), the name of the Pit Stop, and the team eliminated in each leg during the season on a board of a life-sized traditional mancala game of congkak in the corresponding space on the congkak according to the legs visited, in chronological order: Once the coconuts were placed in the correct spots, teams were given their final clue. Reception. The premiere episode was the best performing English Original Production (OP) in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines in 2016. It also posted 26 % and 33% increases in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively, over 2015's record-breaking "Asia's Got Talent", putting the series on track to become the most watched English OP ever in Asia.