Racing Partners

The second season of The Amazing Race Asia is in full swing, with 10 pairs doing their utmost to outdo and outsmart the competition. There are two glaring differences from last year’s series: the race has expanded beyond Asia, and there is no denying the photogenic appeal of most of the participants (would last year’s viewer-beloved but roly-poly brothers Mardi and Marsio Juwono from Indonesia have made the cut this time around?)

Team Indonesia ‘07, Australian-Indonesian physiotherapist Brett Money, 26, and his girlfriend, actress-model Kinaryosih, 28, reveal tales from the road. 

First things first: why take part?
Brett: I’ve always had an interest in the show, I watched it when I was in university and thought it would be good to be part of it. But it was more my parents who kept on saying that we should go through with it.

Kinar: Both of us were interested in doing it. And our families, especially Brett’s, kept on saying, “why don’t you do it?” Actually, we were just playing around when we sent in the video. But then they called us in for the interview and tests. At first I didn’t believe we would get in. When I heard I was so excited. Really happy.

Did you do anything special on your application video to wow the producers?
Brett: We did the simple things we normally do. We were in Bali, so it showed us hanging out at the beach, at Kudeta in Seminyak, at the gym. But we only had three minutes to express ourselves, so we just talked to the camera.

Kinar: We talked about our personalities, why we wanted to do it. It was very simple.

Best part of the race?
Brett: We made great friends; you know, it’s a strange experience to be racing around the world together. We’re actually going to visit two of the other teams over Christmas.

Kinar: Traveling with someone I love was the best part. And making new friends.

And worst?
Brett: The lack of sleep was really tough. You can be the fittest, smartest person but when you’re getting only four hours sleep your brain does strange things and it’s going to shut down eventually.

Kinar: We didn’t get enough sleep or food. It was crazy with all the activities, and only getting to eat once a day.

Fess up: any major meltdowns?
Brett: We were almost sure we would have them. We had planned before the race that if they happened, we would know it was just in the moment. But they never happened.

Kinar: We had said we had to be ready for any situation, whatever could happen in the race, but then we never fought. Perhaps we both learned to understand each other better. He’s calmer, but I can be a bit temperamental. Sometimes we were falling behind, and Brett would say, “It’s OK, it’s OK.” I would be thinking, “No, it’s not OK”. But I thought, why fight about it? We would take a break, eat an apple for lunch, joke around and then return to the challenge.

Some fans complain there are too many pretty people, not enough character among the second series racers
Brett: When we came together I looked around the room, and realized that everybody was young and good-looking. I think it makes it more interesting. But if you think that being young and good-looking means they are stupid and spoiled, you’re wrong. Everybody is really competitive.

Kinar: Well, it’s very different from last year. We only applied and it was up to AXN to choose who they wanted.  Perhaps they thought it would be better and more interesting to have more celebrities.

Is there much back-stabbing and cut-throat competition this time around?
Brett: Of course there was plenty of that going on, to where the teams that don’t get cut-throat fall behind. Once the race is on, you’re on. When you’re in the field, you’ll do anything to win. But when you’re off, it’s friendly again. The trash talking and such are all part of the game.

Kinar: There weren’t any teams who were bad to us. We heard about other teams doing stuff to each other, but not us. They were a bit bitchy, but it wasn’t really abnormal. Still normal, lah.

What did you learn about yourself?
Brett: I purposely learned to pack light; two pairs of boxers, two pairs of socks, etc. I realized that I don’t need all the creature comforts, the nice soaps and lotions. All I needed was a backpack; that would be enough to travel in the future. And also about trying to stay calm under really stressful circumstances that would cause most people to snap.
Kinar: I learned to change my behavior for the better. And that actually I’m quite a patient person. With all my daily activities, everything I have to do, it’s easy for me to lose it. But I found out I could be patient.

And about your partner?
Brett: Kinar is usually the short-tempered once; she gets in grumpy moods and can’t get out of them. But as it turned out she was the calmer one on the race.
Kinar: I knew he was patient, and here I realized that he was even more patient than I knew.

The M+M brothers must have been big shoes to fill.
Brett: We knew about them because we saw the show, and they were very popular, but we’re a very different team from them. One of the cameramen, who was with them last year, told us that this year’s race was crazy, bigger, better than last year. That was comforting to know.

Are you ready to be known as the bald one, Brett?
Brett: Actually, there are three guys in the race who are bald! I was reading on one of the race’s forum about ways to tell the difference among us; I’m always wearing a cap. They call us the B+B couple: Bald and Beautiful. I’ll take that.

+ Bruce Emond

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