Group A: Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 →
Group B: Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 →
Leg 25.01 (Group A) – “Here we go again!”
Celebrating 25 seasons of The Amazing Race Philippines: DryedMangoez Edition, 24 All-Star teams return for another chance to cross that Finish Line first! But what these teams do not know is that they have been split into two groups of 12. And each group will unknowingly be competing on parallel Legs until only six remain in each! At which point, the remaining teams will merge into a final group of 12 for the ultimate sprint to the Finish Line!
The winning team on this All-Star season could potentially Race through as many as 19 countries! And this unprecedented season begins at Kilometer Zero in Manila. This landmark serves as the starting point for measuring distances across the island of Luzon and a reference point for the Pan-Philippine Highway. And today, the first group of 12 teams (to be referred to as Group A) arrive to start their Race.
For their Starting Line task, teams will be flagged off and wait for the light to turn green to cross Roxas Boulevard into Rizal Park. The teams’ backpacks are scattered around the park along with their clue. But they are locked and need a three digit code. Around Rizal Park are replicas of several Philippine landmarks, each with two corresponding numbers. Each team’s padlock requires a three digit code and accompanying their bags are three photos of landmarks. Teams must search the park for the corresponding landmarks, memorize the six numbers associated with each and then figure out the code to unlock their backpacks and the next clue.
The first five teams to unlock their backpacks will have their choice of a Fast Forward Flip, one of Two Express Passes, a Super Yield and an extra Interchange. All will be eligible to use until end of Leg 7. (Which teams don’t know is the final pre-merge Elimination Leg.)
The next clue directs teams to hop in a taxi to take them to the Binondo. Binondo is the oldest Chinatown in the world with a vibrant melting pot of Chinese and Filipino cultures. For this Double Road Block, Taste and See, teams will get to taste some of the most delicious offerings of Binondo.
The team member who will Taste will be blindfolded and then sample various versions of siopao, hopia, siomai and wontons, each with different fillings. They must describe the various food items to their See partner on the other side of a partition who must then properly match what they are being described. When completed, teams will receive the next clue.
Teams must now choose a brand new 2025 Kia Seltos and drive themselves to Monasterio de Tarlac.
Here, teams must climb up to retrieve the next clue which reveals the Detour: Press or Thresh.
In Press, teams travel to a sugarcane plantation where they must harvest enough sugarcane to extract juice up to a marked line. The juice is then transferred to a boiling pot and cooked until it reaches a thick syrup consistency. Teams will need to remove impurities (e.g., foam or scum) that rise to the surface as the syrup boils. Once the syrup is thick enough and impurities are removed, they can present it to the task supervisor to receive their next clue.
In Thresh, teams travel to a rice field, where they must use traditional tools (e.g., sickles or scythes) to cut rice stalks. Afterward, they must thresh the stalks (separate the rice from the stalks) using manual methods. Once they’ve gathered enough rice and achieved a specific weight, they will bring it to a local station for approval before receiving their next clue.
After the Detour, teams must drive to New Clark City Athletics Stadium.
The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) is one of the most colorful and exciting festivals in the country, often dubbed as the “Weekend of Everything that Flies.” It is traditionally held at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga and is one of Asia’s longest-running hot air balloon festivals.
For the first Road Block of the Race: Who’s feeling sky high? Teams will skydive into the stadium, replicating one of the thrilling events of the PIHABF!
After the Road Block, teams must now observe the various hot air balloons. Each with a word or words that when unscrambled will reveal their next destination: Clark International Speedway.
Here, Teams must complete timed laps around the track in a go-kart within a specific time limit. Along the way will be groupings of letters, each associated with one of two colors. Each team member will be responsible for memorizing all the letters of a specific color. Then they will come together and unscramble the letters to reveal the Pit Stop location: Pinatubo Crater Lake.
Teams will drive to the starting point where they will then hop into 4x4s to drive across the lahar plains before hiking to the Pit Stop with the stunning crater lake as their backdrop.
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in WILL NOT be eliminated and must now choose a Non-Elimination Penalty envelope.
“Director’s” Commentary
Wowow! Can you believe TARPHDME has survived 25 seasons? I certainly can’t. lol But we’re here!
So I’ve had this idea of a split Race for a while, originally inspired by HaMerotz LaMillion doing it for one Leg and then further refined when TARAU did it on their season with 72 teams. For me, the best implementation of a split Race twist is to have them Race for more than one Leg separately.
Of course, that requires a lot of logistics and perhaps extra cost. But since this is an All-Stars and an anniversary season, that extra effort would be justified. And, spoiler alert, kind of, these initial Legs during the parallel Race would basically be like double Leg countries. Two different Legs (with some shared tasks) in the same country for each group.
So that would be one way we can help keep costs on the lower end. But even so, we obviously would need to find some extra financial support nonetheless. Hehe.
Anyway, let’s go through this first Leg for Group A. For both groups, the Starting Line location and task will be the same. Doing this, as well as the shared tasks later on, is kind of a way to keep a level of fairness between the two groups. The tasks and respective Legs would be complimentary to each other. So never will one group’s Leg be harder or easier than the other’s.
For Group A, their Leg will be focused on Tarlac and Pampanga. That is partly because for this initial split, I wanted one Group to travel more north and the other Group to Race more south.
So we start with this task in Binondo. I don’t think TARPHDME has ever visited Binondo. So this is a perfect opportunity to finally do so. This Double Road Block is essentially a recycled task. And also fits with TARPHDME’s favorite go-to Double Road Block prompt. Lol
The Route Marker at Monasterio de Tarlac is just the first of a theme this season of teams climbing stairs. Honestly, there’s nothing to it. Like, there’s not going to be a memory task about stairs or counting steps or anything like that lol
The detour is a choice between two familiar farming tasks: harvesting and pressing sugarcane. And then harvesting and threshing rice. It’s a good physical pair of tasks on this first Leg.
Next, I’ve had the hot air balloon festival on the reserve list for a while. We did feature it in a Final Leg before. But it was a good Route Marker to have since we are in the area.
I saw that one of the events of the festival is a skydiving demonstration landing inside the stadium. So I thought, why not do that here with the teams! I don’t know how logistically possible it would be. But, if you’ve been with TARPHDME for a while, you know anything is possible! Hehehe
As if this Leg wasn’t full already, we have another task at the Clark International Speedway. A typical racing task and memorizing things along the way. So it’s a simple and straightforward task.
Finally, I wasn’t sure what a good Pit Stop location would be. But I saw Pinatubo Crater Lake. And while it’s difficult to reach, especially in a Race dynamic, it would make for a stunning finish to this opening Leg!
Overall, a very full Leg. But fitting for an All-Star Race!