Yes dears, I joined The Amazing Race Asia Season 3.
Ahahahaha *Snorts* not quite actually. Just The Amazing Race Bangkok version. ;-P Organized by AIS.
Thai colleague has a high school friend who's now working in AIS, and the company organized this car rally/Treasure hunt event. There were still vacancies for the competition, so we took up 2 slots. There was one point I decided to bail at the last minute, because I felt a flu coming through. But after some convincing, I decided to tag along. Thanks Tay, otherwise I'd be missing something very good.
The competition took us from Bangkok -> Kanchanaburi (Province located west of Bangkok).
Started the morning REALLY EARLY. Woke up at exactly 5am, packed up, and left the service apartment at around 6.20am. Had McD's for breakfast. Was so hungry that morning I gobbled up 2 Sausage McMuffins. >.< There goes my diet.
Then it was off to Ari BTS station, by cab! <-- Wierd huh. ahahha. Ari is located just 2 stations away from Victory Monument BTS station.
Shell station just below Ari BTS station.
Waited for Thai colleague at the Mercedez Benz show centre.
The AIS head office was nearby. Thai colleague picked us up and we were led to our designated parking spot (According to number). The car I was in was no. 3.The whole idea is like this:
Each car can have maximum 4 members. Each car is allocated a number and the cars will take turns to leave the compound and initiate the rally (Starting from Car no. 1). At the exit point, we are given our 1st way point sheet. We are only given a limited amount of time to reach there and in between we have to accomplish various tasks.
Altogether there were 5 way points to go through if I recalled correctly.
The tasks include:
1) Counting number of petrol stations from 1 point to the other. And naming them in order.
2) Reading and taking down each and every word found on a bill board ad.
3) Identifying the markers (Alphabets) written on/disperesed throughout locations. We had A LOT of trouble finding these. Namely because the translation from clue wasn't very accurate (I think. ahaha) and the clues themselves were VERY vague.
4) Taking proof photos/collecting items to show that members were in a location (Includes taking photos in front of sign boards, getting the fortune slip after 'kau chim' from a temple).
5) Answering questionnaires. I saw questions regarding Thai history.
5) And at each way point, we have to accomplish tasks like: Golfing, number guessing games, etc...)
When we reached near the last way point, I sorta lost interest because the sun was so darn hot and I felt myself falling sick.
But before all that, we reached the AIS compound at around 7.45am. We had time to kill as the rally didn't officially start until 8.30am. So we decided to just hang around... and make a trip to McDs... again. ahaha. I didn't eat anything though. I swear!
Look at all the cars!
Presumably where AIS is residing. =P
Making our way to McDs.
There were quite a number of stalls along the street: selling drinks, meatballs, and assorted grilled stuffz.We were formally introduced to the AIS friend at McDs. Hunged out long enough and didn't realize that we missed the start time of the rally! We flew back and found out that we were penalized. We could only start our engines after all cars have moved out. Originally my car was to ship out after Car no.2, but now we were moved all the way back to no.40 something. >.<
Racers! Start yer engines!
Checking all systems. Airbags, go! Boom boom sound systems go!
And we're off! We passed by the King's estate that morning.
Count da petrol stations!
No idea what the sign translates to. =PI wasn't much help in the rally because I couldn't understand the clues stated in Thai. All I could do was to decipher the translation made by the Thai colleague and be on the look out for the various signs etc. And I had my trusty w700i phone with me, so I'm able to take some pix of sign boards and stuff. ;-P
I didn't take much pictures the entire journey, mainly because I was too busy being one of the spots man. And it got really exciting when were about to run out of time.
We took pix in front of this sign.
Very near the last way point.
Our final destination, the Legacy Rive Kwai Resort. Where we were to hand out our proofs and answers to questionnaires. It was around 3.30pm
The number of chalets in the vicinity.
Our chalet. We took the family size chalet. It was able to fit all 8 of us (2 cars).
I was hoping to get a bed of my own. But apparently they only had 2 rooms (each with a queen size). So let's do the math... there was a couple... and 2 girls... so the rooms go to them. And I had to sleep... *GASP* on the floor! At least I get to sleep at the side. Ahaha. You know, those midnight leaky sessions can be a real pain in the arse.
I love the bathroom a lot. The walls... I love it so much! Has that rock formation deco.
I don't know why, but I seemed to be transfixed with this wood deco. It's simple, but eye catchy.
There's a HUGE space between the hall and the kitchen/dining area. Very nice. I noticed that the floor was slanting a little. I could just set a bottle on the floor and watch it roll down. 
That's our chalet number (104).We settled down a little and decided to take a stroll around.
The river kwai.
Caught this female dog taking a drink. Beautiful coat.
At night there was a dinner party going on where they announced the winner of the rally as well as having stage shows/live karaoke sessions. The food wasn't good. Our compatriots won 3rd place, which was an achievement! =)
Dancers entertaining the guests. The center gal is a lady boy I was told. Man she has got the moves! Really swinging like no tomorrow.
My colleagues performed 'Someone' (Thai Song by the popular thai singer Bie), complete with backup dancers. And they won a prize for it too.
The evening ended at around 9.30pm. Everyone was so bumped and turned in pretty early. There was moment where the electricity throughout the resort was cut off. Admittedly it was very eerie but the power was restored 5 minutes later.
Everyone was sound asleep after that.
It was nearly an hour drive to the falls. There were quite a lot of coffee shops there and we made orders. The food would then be delivered to the falls where we picnic'ed.
Beautiful lush forest path.
After 10 minutes of walking, we could hear the sound of a stream. This is the first one we came across.
Erawan waterfall consists of 7-tier falls. This being the zeroth if not mistaken.
The water is so clear you can even see fishies.
This is the first tier
Approaching 2nd tier falls. On the right you could see thai colleagues setting up the picnic spot.
2nd tier falls contains the biggest pool area and the most accessible. This is where the masses concentrated.
Changing rooms?
Yums yums* I didn't eat much because I was frightened of getting tummy aches. I already had 3 day constipation, didn't want to overload when still in 1/3 way of the trip.
Originally I didn't want to get wet. Because I didn't have enough clothes with me. But then again decided to jump in anyway when the falls just seemed too good to miss out. There's a small opening behind the falls and we climbed up the rock formations and just chilled there.
Next destination was to the Srinakarin dam (If not mistaken the biggest dam in thailand) just half hour drive from the falls.
The dam
The other side of the dam.
Road along the dam.
There's a small park at the other side of the dam. The air is fresher here and it's got a serene view.
Next destination, The Bridge over River Kwai. There's historical significance to this place. The bridge actually carries a railway track.
Crossing over to the other side. Occasionally trains would pass through, but we are able to stand on the side platforms built especially for pedestrians when the train crosses. Trains would normally go very slow when crossing.
A boat pulling a dinner booth.
Yeah made it to the other side!
The Chedi.
Lots and lots and lots of food stall as far as the eye can see.
The highlight of the evening is there's this ice-cream stall. And a old man who operates it. From time to time he would do a show. That evening I got to see him hurl a scoop of ice-cream high high up into the air and a spectator would catch it with a serving cup. See the video below.
