The Diary of Henry Reed: TARA 2 Episode Two

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Hey Guys,

Hope you all got to see Episode 2 last night. It was great. First I gotta say the editing didn't really show it but we kicked ass!! We left Singapore about 3 1/2 hours behind the other 8 teams. And again, I'm 95% sure that it was not 100% our fault. And actually, I'm still in "negotiations" with the TARA2 Producers to do the right thing ... more on that later but now, on with the show.

I thought I'd first give you a few of the technical details of actually producing the show ... more to the point ... Team-Crew training. The race looks fast paced but actually it's 10 times faster!! We really move, move, move on that show. It's %$#@@&' crazy. But for the camera guys, they have to keep thinking about "getting the shot" to make a good show so here's some of the rules:

The members of the teams were required to stay within 20 ft of each other ALL THE TIME, 24-7!! And trust me, with all the stress, there are plenty of times when you want to be a lot farther than 20 feet away from each other.

Whenever we got in a cab, here's what we had to do ... we put our stuff in the trunk. Then the crew gave us their bags to put in the trunk. Then the Team got in the cab and the camera crew stood on the curb a little bit in front of the cab. Then we had to have the cab driver move forward about 20 feet so the camera crew could get the shot of us "leaving." Then we had to have the cab driver stop so the crew could get in the cab and then, we were off. Sounds simple enough until you're in a cab where the driver doesn't speak English and you're trying to explain this "procedure." In some countries, it was a challenge. Oops, may have given away the fact that we go to some countries in the world where they don't speak English ... hmmm??? ... what countries don't speak English ... hmmmm???, heh, heh, heh.

Since there were 10 teams, there were also 10 camera crews. Some better, faster, smarter than others so all the Teams switched camera crews every couple days so that it all evened out. Terri and I were very lucky with out first camera crew. The cameraman's name was Sandy and it turns out, he was also the cameraman for the very first Survivor. He also did The Bachelor, Pimp My Ride and a butt ton of other "reality" shows. He was VERY good and during the down time ... riding in a cab or waiting, etc, it was just so interesting to find out behind the scenes stuff about Survivor and some of the other "reality" shows. A very unique experience for us. He also trained us very well so that we didn't have to do too many retakes to 'get the shot.'

Whenever you saw a clue box, the instinct is to make a mad sprint, rip open the clue and go on to the next challenge. But in reality, you can only go as fast as your camera crew. You have to make sure they are set up BEFORE you reach in the box to grab the envelope. Otherwise, you have to put the envelope back in the box and do it again so the cameraman gets the shot. Terri and I came up with a system so that we did it the same way every time and we made sure the cameraman got the shot he needed. Sandy trained us well.

Backpack issues .... Before the show, AXN said that we should try and have matching backpacks. Well, I have collected some backpacks over the years ... 1 or 2 of them are very nice ... but they don't match. I have a 6 racket tennis bag and another 2 racket bag that sorta match. I was gonna carry the big one and Terri would carry the smaller one but I was a little worried that the big one may be too big for 'carry on' baggage and that could be disastrous in a close sprint at the airport so we decided to get "new" backpacks for the race.

And considering Terri and I really did the race for the money ... cause we don't have much of it and with the Republicans destroying the US economy causing the dollar to be the weakest it's been it fuckin' YEARS and STILL dropping and soldiers are STILL DYING IN IRAQ AND .........AUUUUGGGGGHHH!!!
But I digress ....

Anyway, we decided to buy new, matching backpacks from the palengke. We found some nice ones for P300 each! Yea, that's right, our backpacks cost about 6 bucks each!! Cool. But how long do 6 buck backpacks last on the Amazing Race Asia???? .... well, about halfway thru the first Singapore leg of Episode 1!! After that, the sides start opening up, the buckles break and the straps fall off and it gets to be a pain in the ass to carry them. And it doesn't take long before they become as unruly as carrying a couple 25kg sacks of Jasmine rice!! So at every pit stop, we spent the night licking our wounds like all the other teams, but I also did a little seamstress work to get the backpacks back in shape for the next day. I am now quite handy with a needle and thread ... heh,heh,heh.

The second day in the Philippines had the first team leaving at 7:19 am, 12 hours after they arrived. We left at 9:40 so add the 3 hours from the missed flight and we would've been at the first pit stop in first place ... Yahoo!! We kicked ass in the Philippines!!

I really felt like the "Caribao Whisperer" during that challenge in the rice fields. We were definitely on the same page. A strong voice and soft hand on the reins and me and my caribao were cruising .....

But not nearly as fast as Terri was cruising during all the stages of that leg. She had the cab drivers making U-Turns next to NO U-TURN signs. We had traffic cops stopping traffic for us because Terri told them we were part of GMA's personal press crew and HAD to get to the Presidential Palace . We followed a police convoy down the wrong way of a major highway!! Traffic in the Philippines is normally crazy but this was Crazy on Crack. It was nutz! But like I said, we made up time on ALL the other teams so each brush with death was worth it!

But I sorta knew it was gonna be a good day when in one of the challenges we had to choose between sorting 250 pair of shoes in a pile or putting together a bike ... what?? A bike??? I've got a bike tattooed on my leg. I'm a bike addict. So that was a no-brainer and we made up a lot more time.

We were having trouble getting a cab after the bike challenge so Terri had a cop pull out his gun and force a cab to stop!! She really was in her element. It was very impressive and all I had to do was stay out of the way and be ready to duck just in case the bullets started to fly ... heh, heh, heh.

Unfortunately for Monica and Ed, the other team that had bad luck with the cabs in Singapore, the first country wasn't Hong Kong and they got eliminated.

Last Saturday nite (2 days after the premier of Episode 1), the other team from the Philippines (Magnum PI) sponsored a HUGE party in Manila to celebrate the premier of TARA2. Pamela and Vanessa (The Gumby Girls) and Aurelia from Hong Kong also came. Jeena Lopez, Aubrey Miles and Jackie Yu (from TARA1) were there. And lots and lots of the forum-ers were there. It was incredible. They replayed the episode and the place went nutz. I didn't go 'cause I had tennis matches that weekend, but Terri brought a few of her friends and they all had a blast. Rovilson told us earlier that Terri was the most requested racer leading up to the event so when she got there ... fashionably late, she got the star treatment. As Rovilson said, "she got the loudest cheer ... oops, make that, the ONLY cheer" when she walked in the club.”

The owner, Tim Yap was all over her. Getting her drinks, introducing her to stars, chillin' in the VIP room. We found out later that Tim is kinda like the Donald Trump of the Philippines .... he's makin' mad dough! A good person to know and have as a friend.

But one of the craziest things that happened that night was when all these stars came up to Terri to introduce themselves to her! "Hi Terri, I'm Ruffa.Gutierez" or "Hi Terri, I'm Donita Rose." Terri was thinking "Yea right! Like I don't know who YOU are!!!!" These are HUGE stars here in the Philippines so Terri was practically floored! She really met a lot of people she has admired for years so it was a great night for her.

Magnum PI took great care of her and her friends ... and really, everyone at the party. I think Pamela, Vanessa and Aurelia also had a fun night so I'm kinda hoping there's a mid season party. I'm sorry I missed it.

I included a few pictures (I have HQ copies of some of them so let me know if you want those) from the party. If you Google the names above, you can find out more about the stars. Actually, now I can even Google myself and get some hits other than some freaky dude in Idaho that sells ceramic iguanas.

Funniest moment ... watching Kinar attempt to mount the carabao .... that chick is such a Huge star yet she's so innocent. I also got a chance to see her version of yelling at Brett during the frustration of the shoe challenge they picked ... It went something like this ... "Please stop talking," You could barely even hear it. Brett is truly a lucky guy.

Oh yea, totally OT, but what's cuter that kids and puppies ... feel me?!!

Holla,

Henry