'The Amazing Race Asia' Season 5 Dec 8 Recap: Who Will Make It To The Final 3?

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POPCORN TIME (LIVE BLOG) RECAP: This is a live blog/recap of “The Amazing Race Asia” December 8 episode. Tonight, four teams will vie for a spot in the final three, as they continue the adventure race in Indonesia. In last week’s episode, the two Filipino teams, the Indonesian team and the Malaysian team made it to the pit stop ahead of the Singaporean team, who were eliminated from the race.

Teams will be traveling to another part of Indonesia from the pit stop in Yogyakarta.

#AXNTARA Yogyakarta to Banyuwangi, Eastern Java

The first team to leave the pit stop is the Indonesian team of Treasuri and Louisa. According to their instructions, they must travel by train to Eastern Java, to the city of Banyuwangi. This city is famed for its coffee, so the task is to look for a certain Coffee master. They need to find his shop, sample his coffee and then get their next clue.

The train ride was an equalizer for the race as all of the teams were on the 7:15 a.m. trip to Eastern Java. Upon arriving at the train station after a 14-hour train ride, teams scrambled for taxis. Since it was early in the morning, they went directly to the coffee shop. Unfortunately, it was still closed so teams had to sign up based on who arrived first.

The next morning, each team came to the shop. First on the list were Yvonne and Chloe, followed by Treasuri and Louisa, then Maggie and Parul. The final pair were Eric and Rona who unfortunately could not take the coffee because of their religion.

#AXNTARA Volcano complex Twa Kawa Ijen

The next stop for the team was to go a volcano complex of TWA Kawah Ijen. It’s a two hour car ride and then a 3 km hike up one area of the volcano. A roadblock waits for the teams here, as well as a yield. The yield allows a team to delay another team for some time. Like other strategies in the race, this must be used wisely.

In the roadblock, one team member must break sulfur into smaller blocks or rocks and put them in sacks. After gathering enough, they must give this to those in the area, who will then give their next clue.

After the long hike, the teams had difficulty doing the roadblock. Yvonne took on the task first. The next team to follow was Maggie and Parul, who decided to yield the Indonesian team. Eric and Rona arrived next. Among the teams, Eric finished first. The next to finish was Parul. Yvonne finished next after having some difficulty getting the sulfur to the weighing area. After their yield time ran out, Louisa took on the task for their team. Louisa had to go back to the sulfur pit again after not getting enough. This made them the last team to leave.

#AXNTARA Farming Village Kecamatan

The next clue led the teams to a farming village nearby. In this leg, they need to choose between two tasks. A U-Turn, which allows another team to have one team do all the tasks in the leg before moving on is available in this leg.

Eric and Rona were first to arrive. Maggie and Parul follow them almost immediately. Eric and Rona however chose to U-Turn the Indonesian team. Both Filipino teams chose to do the task Dragon Horse, where they have to decorate a horse for a wedding party. They have to pay attention to detail and if a judge says ok to their dragon horse, they will get their next clue after doing the wedding party parade.

The Malaysian and Indonesian teams arrived next, but since the Dragon Horse tasks were taken, they needed to do the Human Bull task. This was a much harder and more physical task, where the teams needed to bring grains of rice from one end of a paddy to another. In between they are being “attacked” by humans dressed as bulls. They must fill the basket to the brim.

In the Dragon Horse task, both Filipino teams had a hard time with the task as the judge kept on saying that what they did was wrong. While Eric was about to lose his temper, eventually, the husband and wife team got it right.

In the meantime, Treasuri and Louisa finished their Human Bull task, ahead of Yvonne and Chloe, who were struggling because of Chloe’s injured ankle. While they were waiting for the Filipino teams to finish the Dragon Horse so that they can get their turn, they were already worried about whether they will be eliminated because of the Yield and the U-Turn.

Yvonne and Chloe finished the Human Bull ahead of Maggie and Parul however, giving them some headstart but not that much.

#AXNTARA Kali Bendo Coffee Factory and Pendopo Ramien

The couple who were part of the wedding party gave their next clue. Eric and Rona were off to the Kali Bendo coffee factory where they needed to look for a marked coffee sack and find red coffee beans to spell “PIT STOP.” After they spell it, they will get their next clue.

The two Filipino teams and the Malaysia team arrive at the factory almost at the same time. So they start looking almost at the same time. First to finish is Maggie and Parul followed by Eric and Rona. The last to finish were Yvonne and Chloe.

While Maggie and Parul got the first clue, they got lost on the way to the pit stop. The pit stop is Pendopo Ramien which is found in this rich coffee area of Eastern Java. Eric and Rona were the first team to arrive in the pit stop, giving them the first spot in the final 3. Maggie and Parul eventually found their way, making them team number 2.

Team number 3 was Yvonne and Chloe, with Team Indonesia last to arrive and naturally eliminated. It looks like the yield and u-turn had its effect on their performance.

The final three teams are the two Filipino teams, Eric and Rona, Maggie and Parul and Malaysians Yvonne and Chloe. They will race in the final leg that will end in Bali next week.