Introduction → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4A → Leg 4B → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 → Leg 12
Leg 15.01 – “I’m rollin’ it!”
Bonifacio Global City has become one of the country’s trendiest and most modern locations with commercial and residential developments quickly growing in the last decade. This will be the Starting Line for this 15th season of The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition!!!
Twelve brand new Filipino teams make their way to the hub of BGC, Bonifacio High Street. After picking up their backpacks provided by returning Race sponsor Rexona(!), teams will find that they must now make their way to McKinley Hill Stadium.
Here, teams will find their very first task of the Race.
Teams will search through hundreds of soccer balls to find the ones with the letters needed to spell out their first destination country, “Indonesia,” and its capital city. Teams must figure out on their own that the capital is Jakarta. Once teams have all 16 balls that spell out “Jakarta Indonesia,” they must kick them all into the goal to receive their next clue.
BUT!!! In an Amazing Race franchise-first, teams will get the opportunity to win the first ever Fast Forward Note! In a new take on the Fast Forward, the winning team will be given a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 which will be their direct line to request and receive the Pit Stop location/final clue of a Leg whenever they want, at any point in the Leg. Like before, teams can only use the Fast Forward once. And an unused Fast Forward Note will expire at the end of Leg 10.
ALSO!!! The first six teams to complete this first task will be on the first flight to Jakarta while the rest will be on the second. But teams don’t know that the flights arrive in Jakarta only 10 minutes apart: Cebu Pacific at 11:45pm and Philippine Airlines at 11:55pm.
Once in Jakarta, teams must make their way to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. But, HOURS OF OPERATION! Teams must take a number to determine their order of departure in the morning. Teams will be allowed to enter four at a time at five-minute intervals starting at 8am.
When they are inside, teams must rent a tandem bicycle and search the park for five flagged checkpoints, each containing five pieces of a small sculpture which they must keep until further notice.
Once they present the complete figure, they will be given the next clue.
Teams must now make their way to one of the oldest districts of Jakarta, Pasar Baru, And here, teams will find the first Detour of the Race: Spray On or Roll On.
In Spray On, teams must paint and repair two bajaj rickshaws by spray painting them blue like an example and attaching its roof.
In Roll On, teams must choose a textile sample and then search through a huge pile of entangled textile for ones matching it. They must then roll the textiles onto a cardboard sheet.
After the Detour, teams must head to the Jakarta Kota Railway Station for their next clue.
Here, teams must choose a cart, each selling different street food such as bakso, cendol, durian, fried food and more. Selling their chosen item, teams must make 50,000 rupiah worth to receive their next clue.
That clue sends teams to Sunda Kelapa Port where they will find ANOTHER Detour! Sandy Sacks or Seafood Sort.
In Sandy Sacks, teams must fill sacks with sand on the dock and carry them to fill four barrels on a traditional pinisi.
In Seafood Sort, teams must pour out a huge barrel of fish and sort them into different types before transporting them across the market to waiting trucks.
After the Detour, teams must make their way to Taman Suropati park.
Here, teams will take turns wearing an ondel-ondel costume and make their way around the park, asking 20 people each to take a photo with them using a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 8. There can be no more than 5 people (including the 1 Racer) in each photo to count. Once they can present the photos, they will receive the next clue.
This is also the first Trigger Point of the Race. If any team member falls over while wearing an ondel-ondel costume, the U-Turn or Yield will be activated on the next Leg.
Teams will now be directed to refer to the figurine from earlier to find their next Route Marker: Merdeka Square.
What teams don’t know is this is the first Pit Stop of the Race. And they must search the sprawling civic plaza for the hidden Mat.
The first team to check in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check in here WILL be eliminated.
“Director’s” Commentary
Happy Anniversary! This is a very, VERY full first Leg in Jakarta. Jakarta definitely has enough to do for a Leg, let alone an opening Leg.
First, we start at BGC. It’s a nice open area and a nice possibility for a public Starting Line as well. The opening task at McKinley Hill Stadium is a simple and straightforward task. But the highlight is definitely the introduction of the Fast Forward Note.
The Fast Forward Note is inspired by The Amazing Race China 4‘s use of cell phones to give teams their next clues. So why not apply the same idea to the Fast Forward. For TARPHDME, the Fast Forward has most of the time been used like an Express Pass. Teams have it in their back pockets and can use it any time they want. Logistically, that can be difficult since you, as the director of the show, won’t know when you’d have to give a team the Pit Stop clue. But using a phone (and Samsung is a great TARPHDME sponsor, hehe) definitely makes sense. And of course, an opportunity for a sponsor to get the feature.
Having teams get into Jakarta at night is a logistical necessity. But it’s alright as it presents a good equalizer for the teams. The opening task back in the Philippines is really just for the Fast Forward Note.
The task at Taman Mini Indonesia is sort of recycled from TARA5, though not with the Grab sponsorship. It’s a typical TARPHDME task of getting an item and needing to keep it until the end of the Leg. (Something TAR China 4 incorporated, in a way, into their Race.)
I decided to go with two Detours this Leg as a different twist. The first Detour gets teams right into the hustle and bustle of Jakarta. Both can be very physical and tedious tasks as well.
The second Detour recycles TARA5’s physical sand and sack Detour and pairs it with a typical (and recycled) fish sorting task.
But more importantly, separating the two Detours is the task with the food carts. Selling bakso from a cart has become a TAR in Indonesia staple. lol But this time, teams will choose from a variety of food to sell. The goal for this task is that some foodstuffs will be easier to sell than others. Or some are more expensive than others, etc. The hope is that depending on what teams choose, they could finish this task faster or slower relative to the others. That could make for some great drama and competition.
The final task of the Leg, I had to recycle TARA5’s ondel-ondels. They were very fun so this task takes it a step further and has teams actually dress up in them. It should be an exhausting task at the end of an already long, full Leg. And of course, another opportunity to get the sponsor (Samsung, in this case) front and center.
Finally, our goal with the Mat is that teams will have to run all around Merdeka Square to find the Mat in some random, secluded area. So we hope to have teams running around, going crazy and have several footraces to the Mat. Yay!
Overall, a very, very full opening Leg in Jakarta!
Also, I like the refreshed graphics with the new icons. Hehe.
And about this opening credits sequence:
I’ve really had fun editing these, mostly for the great location scenes I try squeezing in. To make it complete, I did use new Filipino celebrities. But again, I’m not going to have another celebrity season after season 14. Hehe. Also, I think the TARPHDME14 celeb was a little more realistic and plausible. Though of this TARPHDME “cast,” Iya & Drew are must-haves for any celeb season. And I also had Enchong & AJ, Sandara & Thunder, Andre & Benjie on the original TARPHDME celebrity season wishlist. (The rest of that wishlist, if they have nice vids of them available on YouTube, will most likely be included in TARPHDME16’s opening credits lol)
This cast is fine, but maybe a little too heavy on family ties.