Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written about The Amazing Race Philippines.  Mainly because I kept falling further and further behind when the uploads became more sporadic.  

But I’ve caught up now and the show’s been chugging along quite nicely even if the boot order has started to take a turn for the worse.  Can’t TARPh at least take away the disappointment of the TAR21 ending.

End of Leg 8 – Albay
It was definitely sad to see Ed & Angel go.  It sucks that they had to fall so far behind. 

The Leg itself was good.  That Halo Halo task at the start was great on paper, but it sucks that teams got help from the locals and the eventual clue giver.  TARPh should’ve made it so teams wouldn’t get the clue if they didn’t actually see the clue sticker at the bottom of the bowl.

The Detour was fine.  The Road Block okay.  And since I haven’t been able to see the raft making task of the Mat, I have no idea what to say about it. lol

Leg 9 – Cebu
This was a big Leg.  WOOHOO to Boom & Cheng getting eliminated.  I was afraid they would end up in the Final 3. 

It was fun seeing airport drama for the first time on TARPh.  And not one, but two business class penalties.  Lol

The arrange jewelry task is definitely classic TARA and TARAu.  The Detour was pretty good thanks to Kuya Uling who was a nazi with the teams’ bags of charcoal.

The Intersection drama was probably the only time I’ve actually applauded Fausto & Dayal.  Yay for going back on your word to screw over Boom & Cheng. Lol  But the Intersection task itself was kinda lame.  Though we did see Marc be a very good parlorista.

The most interesting part of the Leg though was the Yield in the middle of the Road Block.  Has that been done on any TAR before?  Genius move though.  And this was the perfect opportunity for it too, helped by the teams all being there at the same time.

I’d love to see the Yield return on TARUS and be in the middle of a Road Block.  Teams would have already started the task and then have to wait as they watch everyone else go past them.  Wonderful drama would ensue.

The most hilarious moment from this Leg though was Dayal’s diva outburst in the taxi in response to the swindling taxi driver.  “Wag na mag-dis-kus-syon!”  Very fierce delivery. Lol

Leg 10 – Boracay
Sponsored by Sprite lol

I can’t knock the product placement on any TAR because they help pay for the show.  Without the Sprites and Snapples and Caltexes and Fords, we might not have Races to be run.  

That infamous head shaving Fast Forward.  Dayal having to shave his apparently iconic hair wasn’t that big of a deal as he, I guess, made it seem.  But I guess chopping off all that hair after years of growing it would be a big deal for him.  At least he got P200,000 for it. 

I have no idea how Saida & Jervi could have wasted so much time at the Lilitaw Detour.  It seems a helluva lot simpler than the Lulubog Detour.  But they lounged around instead of hustling, so while I was sad they were eliminated, they pretty much did it to themselves.

The Road Block was okay.  One of those needle in a haystack tasks.

Leg 11 – Manila to Puerto Princesa
This was definitely a full Leg.

It was interesting to have teams fly back to Manila and actually have a task there before heading to Palawan.  It speaks to the limited flight options for the domestic airports.  

Okay Brother product placement.  But I wonder if this is the first time a TAR has returned to a previously visited city in the same Race.  Very unique circumstances of course.

The biggest happening of the Leg was of course the alliance drama.  The only thing to come out of it for me was that Sheena & Gee must make the final 3, otherwise it’ll end up being the worst final 3 on any TAR ever.  Really.

I did not get why Dayal, LJ and CJ would want to gang up on them like that.  And really, it was all Dayal’s fault for wanting to stir the pot.  CJ’s argument about Why would they be playing the game at the Pit Stop?  Well gurl, it’s a game for P2 million.  And you Yielded her for no reason.  So, why not try and team up with another team.

Sheena & Gee’s mistake though was approaching Dayal who they should know is a huge drama queen and only wants himself to be the star.  And speaking of stars, CJ’s comment about Sheena & Gee “sisikat pa sila” or “they’ll become famous because of me?  No way.” … I thought to myself, uh… are you that famous?  And LJ hasn’t done anything since Fear Factor and she wasn’t really doing much before it either.

And more “Ugly American Filipino” behavior, this time from Kat.  If I were that multicab driver, I would have just dropped her off at the wrong place again and left them.  That was pretty rude even if he did make a mistake.

The Road Block was pretty good.  Very tricky.  I didn’t even get what they needed to do at first.  But it’s a good task and something TARUS wouldn’t even try to attempt.  The trip through the Subterranean River was pretty much travel pron and a nice ad for the place.  The coconut breaking was very TARA.  And the Detour was alright.

My Subjective Team Rankings for Legs 8-11

	Sheena & Gee – I had no idea they’d be my last hope for the season.  But looking back, they’ve been consistently fierce and have carried on Dani’s “I don’t care who I step on” attitude, which I much prefer than all these other teams who pretend to play nice and play to the camera and the casual fans.  Ewe.  I really really hope they at least make it into the final 3, if not win it all.
	Ed & Angel – Definitely sucked to see them be so far behind and eventually eliminated.  I feel like they weren’t giving it their all though.  They definitely showed moments of strength, but also some unfortunate moments of self-doubt.  They’d be very gung-ho one moment and defeated the next.
	Saida & Jervi – They let the Race get too personal sometimes.  Maybe Sheena & Gee were on to something when they feel like the others are conspiring against them.  They had the same kind of “jealousy” towards Dani & Mish too.  Still, they were fun to watch.  But while they started out a strong team, they definitely slowed down and ended up imploding in their last Leg.  I still would rather see them in the final four though.
*HUGE gap*
	LJ & CJ – Well, they went from boring to annoying at the drop of a hat.  I was pretty indifferent to them until that pointless Yield in Cebu then their overreaction to Dayal’s pot stirring.  CJ’s comment about not wanting Sheena & Gee to get famous because of her, umm… kapal much?  That whole fireside discussion was eyeroll-inducing and officially made me go from indifferent to dislike.
	Marc & Kat – They could possibly and are likely going to win more than P3.5 million. WTF!?!?!  Really now.  I didn’t like Rachel & Dave, half because of their dominance by way of poor Leg design.  Not only are Marc & Kat banking on their luck, other teams’ incompetence and linear Legs, but Kat’s recent outbursts at the locals have been horrible.  Let’s see her try that in another country.  She’ll get thrown in jail like TAR5 Colin almost did.
	Fausto & Dayal – Dayal’s drama queen, cocky attitude can be hilarious to watch sometimes, in a trainwreck sort of way.  But it still gets very annoying and cringe-worthy most of the time.  Dayal’s great to laugh at, but I don’t want them in the final 3, let alone winning.
	Boom & Cheng – A more rude and annoying version of Jose & Wally.  There’s no doubt they went on the Race with the intent to be the next great comic duo.  Unfortunately for them, they instead came off as crude, disrespectful, annoying and worse of all, incredibly unfunny.  Thank goodness they were eliminated.  The only thing that would make a worse final 3 than the one that we might be getting would be if they were part of it.