PERHAPS it was the testosterone and adrenalin brewing in the air, but we sure had fun last night at the finale party of AXN's reality TV show, Amazing Race Asia. There was bottomless Singha beer, Vietnamese spring rolls and something that looked like prawn croquettes. Oh, and there were also the finalists! All six of them: Rovilson and Marc from the Philippines, Collin and Adrian from Singapore, and Pamela and Vanessa from Malaysia.

While AXN screened the last episode of Amazing Race Asia Season 2, our eyes were busy scanning the room and monitoring the reaction on the faces of the finalists to see if we could guess who the winner would be, ahead of everyone else. We asked the organisers, but all we got was "it's going to be a fairy tale ending."

In the end, we, as well as everybody else, were surprised, delighted, shocked, to see Singapore win first place! Rovilson of Team Philippines, who basically was the reason why he and Marc didn't win, said on stage that they were happy for Collin and Adrian, and that "it was a producer's dream. The underdog won. We all love underdogs." We, on the other hand, hate sour grapes.

The winners won US$100,000 in cash prize. We really love reality TV shows, and think that Amazing Race Asia is one of the best-produced. It brings everyone together and shows the best in each Asian country. If the ASEAN wants its member countries to be unified and work together closely, they should take the cue from Amazing Race Asia and seriously adopt it as its official TV show.

Anyhow, AXN is now accepting applications to Season 3. The last day is 25 February. All interested participants must be living and/or working in Asia, aged 21 and above, must speak English, as well as possess both a valid international driving licence and an international passport. Go to www.axn-asia.com to download entry forms. James P. Ong