(Not Quite) The Amazing Race

I’ve made it through DVDs of five seasons of “Survivor” and now I’m going through five seasons of “The Amazing Race,” thanks to my friend Gary; I lent him my TiVo while I was away in return for him recording these things for me. I could have used them in Morocco when I had more time on my hands, but they provide relaxation here as well. On Sunday I went to pack relief goods, and at one point I felt that it was like a task in that show. So, with some creative license, I’m going to write this post as if it were an episode (and if I inspire you to watch, don’t tell me what is going on this season!).

Julie and Sharon made their way via MRT and taxi to this warehouse, the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) operations center, near the airport. While there, they had to pack bags of relief goods to be trucked up north the next day. Each bag consisted of three kilos of rice, two cans of sardines, one can of beef, one package of chicken-flavored noodles, and one package of beef-flavored noodles. Using an assembly line, teams had to work quickly to accomplish this task. After packing over 1500 bags, the supervisor gave them their next clue.

Let’s call this Detour Pack It or Putter, and we chose Pack It. Meanwhile, Bill (and pretend he had a race partner) chose Putter. In this task, Bill and fictional partner slept late, read and generally puttered around, but they had to wait for a text message that contained their next clue.

All teams then made their way to Chinatown – Julie and Sharon via taxi, McDonald’s sundaes and LRT, and Team Bill via Quiapo jeepney. Using only the Lonely Planet map and their cell phones, they ended up at the same spot on Ongpin Street, in the heart of Chinatown. Usually a Roadblock is a task that only one person can perform, but since we’re using creative license, all team members ate strange Chinese food. Teams then looked through Chinatown’s streets until they found this shop, the Feng Shui and Good Fortune Gift Shop, where the owner gave them their next clue.

All teams then took the LRT to a tricycle to the Chinese cemetery, where they hired a tour guide, who showed them mausoleums of rich people, the building housing cremated remains, temples, memorials to the Chinese who fought in the war, and more. When finished, the tour guide gave them their next clue. All teams then raced back via LRT and MRT to Shaw Boulevard and then to their respective pit stops for a mandatory rest period. This was a non-elimination round.

Comments from one of the team members: it was fun to pack those relief goods; I’ve done a lot of envelope-stuffing in my time and this was one of the more efficient things of its type – no downtime. We got right to work and everyone worked together and the time flew by. Reinforcements came, so we didn’t feel too bad when we left at the lunch break. Chinatown wasn’t all it was cracked up to be (nor, sadly, was the food), but it was interesting to go back to the cemetery and get the tour this time. And I enjoyed the time with my companions!