The first episode of The Amazing Race Asia Season 3 finally premiered this week and it was a blast! First destination? Thailand! The main challenges? Eating fried scorpions, frogs and roaches at a street-side area which Team India (both) and the Filipina vomited out later on, models were surprisingly not squeamish about it, the Filipino chomping away like a mad man. An EXTREMELY dirty bus, Ida saying her husband would be proud if he saw her clean it (and the rich duo did amazing well I must say, even though I'm sure they've never cleaned a car before), vertically-challenged Team Hong Kong the LAST to finish, Visa hardly cooperating as her beau washed with vigor, Brother and Siblings Bernie and Henry finishing first.

Then, a hunt for some tickets in a dark area with Golden Buddhas followed. For some, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack (ie. Tania and Ida). Sister and Brother, Team Philippines, and Thailand were the first three to finish. Team Philippines teamed up somewhat with Team Thailand, as they were leading the pack.

Then, a detour followed between RACE and RICE. Only 2 teams chose RACE initially, quite surprisingly. The dad and son duo and the heiress and the actress. Tania RIPPED IT in the race - even the buggy personnel praised her after giving her a ticket. Several teams changed from RICE to RACE after they realized how grueling pounding rice into paste could be.

At the last leg, team Thailand and team Philippines did a rock-paper-scissors to determine who gets to score their first 1st place of the race, an idea that funny guy Filipino model Geoff thought of. In the end, luck was on team Thailand (must have something to do with the fact that the leg was in Thailand) and they got a whopping $5000 they can use after the race. Team Philippines was a huge sport, and applauded them (although I'm guessing they had to be cursing themselves inward after). The Thailand couple, instead of enjoying the spoils of their victory, had an argument, which started when Visa acted like a b**** and said she wanted to quit.

Tania and Ida, the hilarious duo, ran towards the finish line, looking for their porters, and managed to score a decent fourth place. Neena and Amit were the last team to arrive because of their taxi cab mishap, although maybe if Neena didn't pressure the drivers to drive quickly all the time, the driver would not have gotten lost in the first place.

Favorite teams? I'm rooting for Team Philippines (they're a good sport, Geoff is funny as hell, Tish is super in it to win it), The Heiress and the Actress (because they're a wild card for me and they know how to have fun during the race), and Bernie and Henry (because their sibling relationship is quite adorable to watch).

At this point of the game, I must say that all the teams are still relatively likable. I think out of everyone, the only one I hate now is Visa. She was really lazy in all the challenges.

Observations? Did anyone notice how many of the contestants were models/actresses/TV personalities? Where's the variety in that? I do hope they're going to give their winnings to charity at the end of the race - a lot of them don't really seem to need the moolah anyway.