The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition 17 – Leg 12 – Philippines


IntroductionLeg 1Leg 2Leg 3Leg 4Leg 5Leg 6Leg 7Leg 8Leg 9ALeg 9BLeg 10Leg 11Leg 12


Leg 17.12 – “I actually want this to be permanent.”

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This is it! Another amazing season of The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition is about to reach the Finish Line. And that Finish Line will be in the province of Kalinga!

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First, teams must fly from Shanghai to Tuguegarao, Cagayan via Manila. Upon arrival in Tuguegarao, teams will choose a brand new 2019 Kia Sportage and drive themselves to this corn farm in the town of Pinukpuk, Kalinga. Teams must remember to obey all speed and safe driving rules or they will incur a heavy penalty.

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At this corn farm, teams must gather ears of corn and toss them into a corn shelling machine.

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They must then collect the kernels in a large bilao and use it to transport the kernels back across the field to fill two large sacks. Once they’ve completely filled the two large sacks, they will receive the next clue.

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Teams must now drive themselves to the village of Mabilong in the town of Lubuagan and find these weavers to get their next clue.

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Here, teams must choose a traditional Kalinga G-string or bahag and search for a matching one with the same design in this pile of Kalinga handwoven fabric. They must then search for one of the local youths dancing a traditional Kalinga dance who is also wearing a matching design. If teams are correct, they will receive the next clue.

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Teams must now find Tiwod Spring. At this “fertility spring,” teams must choose one of three children, all of whom have an identical twin brother or sister somewhere in the nearby neighborhoods.

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The child cannot speak to the teams, but can only tell them if they are heading in the right direction using a green card for “Yes” or a red card for “No.” Once teams have reunited the siblings, they will be given the next clue.

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Teams must now “Find General Aguinaldo.” Teams must figure out that this refers to the Aguinaldo monument in front of the town hall where they will get their next clue.

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That clue directs them to find the town plaza where they will get to meet a living legend, Apo Whang-od who will hand them their next clue. And that clue is the Final Road Block: Who’s not ready to take their shirt off? Team members can only perform a maximum of six Road Blocks per 12 on the Race. The team member who has only performed five Road Blocks so far MUST perform this final one.

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For this Final Road Block, that team member will “tattoo” on their partner’s bare back using a brush and paint using a provided list of symbols. The symbols are answers to 10 questions about their time on the Race. Once all the “tattoos” are correct, they will be given the next clue.

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Teams must now make their way to Awichon Village.

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Here, teams must correctly assemble a tal-tallak to receive the next and FINAL! clue.

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That final clue tells teams to ride their newly assembled tal-tallaks to the Finish Line! The Awichon Mesa.

The first team to arrive here will WIN all the prizes!

Congratulations! Woohoow!

“Director’s” Commentary

A wonderful Final Leg I think!

So some people out there might have a little déjà vu about this Leg. And they would be right! Half of it is recycled from France’s Pekin Express! I had so much fun watching Pekin Express racing through the northern Philippines, especially my dad’s home province of Kalinga. It was such a surprise when I first heard about it. And even more amazing watching the episodes. Pekin Express really made me wish The Amazing Race US races through the Northern Philippines some time in the future. (If the show lives long enough.)

Anyway, I really loved all the tasks they did on Pekin Express and was able to cobble together a pretty solid Final Leg here in Kalinga.

First off, self-driving on the Final Leg?! Indeed. TARPHDME has done this before and it’s really just a logistical necessity to do. We’re in the provinces and public transport is not plentiful. And hired drivers can have its own problems. So we have teams self-driving with extra, non-stop reminders that they cannot be reckless. *crossesfingers*

The first task is a Pekin Express recycle. At the moment, I don’t remember if it was an elimination battle or a first place battle. But it was a face off-type thing. I modified it a little bit here. In the original, they had to catch the kernels in sacks that were full of holes which they then needed to carry across the field to balance a scale carrying two kids. Instead, I actually think the task here is more physically demanding, since they’ll be running back and forth several times. It’s a good rural task.

Next up, a nice way to feature Kalinga fabrics. It’s a simple search and match task. And it allows a nice spotlight on the dancing youth as well.

The twins task is another Pekin Express recycle. It was such an interesting task and fascinating factoid about the town having tons of twins. My dad never even heard of that lol But we recycle pretty much the exact task here. Should be fascinating.

Next, after two Route Markers, we get the highlight of the Leg and episode! We get to see Apo Whang-od, a true living legend! It would be awesome to highlight her and shine a spotlight on her and her traditions and work like this. And for the teams to kind of pay tribute as well to this Kalinga tradition with fake tattoos. It’s definitely a different Final Task. But still with a memory element and I guess artistic skills element too.

Finally, we have one final assembly task and teams riding these awesome tal-tallaks down a steep road to the Finish Line should be an exciting finish! I would love to see American teams doing any of these tasks!

Though the Finish Line pic above is of the cultural village since I can’t find an actual photo of some scenic viewpoint nearby. lol

Overall, a pretty solid and fast-paced Final Leg with lots of opportunity for competition!

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