Sorry for no updates lately. Been having visitors over, working and just setting into life after the Amazing Race. As you might know by now we have been eliminated from the race. I’m pretty upset with the way the episode was edited. As you can see- as blood hard fans of the show and by watching the on the mat interview, we did beat Eric and Rona on the roadblock, meaning we didn’t finish last as showed on TV. So, as you can guess… I was not happy to see that they showed us to be the last team to finish the roadblock making it look like that was what got us out of the race. But it was definitely the beginning of the end, and things did snowball from that point.
Whatever the outcome I’m super happy that we got to be part of the experience and I urge everyone that are thinking about joining to apply when the chance comes up. It is truly something special I will take with throughout my whole life. The challenges, the rush, waking up early in the morning and giving it your best it was all so much fun, and better yet I got to experience it all with Tom.
Now TARA, you better choose us for an all-star season 😀
I had the pleasure of staying at the So Sofitel Bangkok. It was an amazing experience from beginning to to end. I can’t emphasize enough how much I love the way Sofitel makes every visit an experience, better yet an adventure. It always starts off walking into a lobby with a concept you’ve never seen before, with a signature welcome drink- most of the time it’s something you’ve never tasted before or just a whole new way of drinking something you already know.
Love how they have played with the shadows here. They spend time of every little detail.
Check out this amazing view! Who knew Bangkok could look so green?
We stayed at the wood element room on 17th floor overlooking Lumpini park, which is one of the most popular elements in the hotel next to metal. The high-rise property blends a mosaic of materials that give a contemporary high-tech look while at the same time appearing accessible and inviting. It’s architecture was designed by Smith Obayawat a leading figure in the association of Siamese Architects. As creative as the architecture is the interior design, SO Sofitel Bangkok offeres themed accommodation created around the five elements inspired by Lumpini Park. Water, Earth, Wood, Metal and Fire. Every element has a unique style and layout, and are all designed by five different Thai designers- making every stay at the SO Sofitel a new experience.
Wood Element- SO Cosy.
Soft beds that makes you want to stay in bed all day!
Earth element, I like how every room is different.
Art exhibition showcasing the five elements- fire, water, earth, metal and wood.
The winner of the art contest. How can a student make something like this? amazing.
Walking around the hotel you will see art everywhere- every corner, roof and floors are covered with something to fit the current theme of the hotel. There is also annually art exhibitions, this year they held a competition and let students from Bangkok compete for the top three to have their art shown at the hotel.
Every type of yoghurt you can dream of!
The world kitchen and the big Red Oven- hence the name of the restaurant.
Living in Bangkok and being a breakfast person, I have tried many breakfast buffets around the city, but had to try the breakfast at the Red Oven. If you have ever stayed at a SO Sofitel or even Sofitel hotel you know you are in for a nice breakfast. However, there is something extra with the Red Oven. The beautiful fire element and red interior plays a big part in making it a nice experience, but the selection of food is just amazing. I understand why it’s also called the world kitchen. You have all the usual stuff, but better quality. Then you have ice creams, all sorts of energizing drinks and snacks, not only seasonal fruits from Thailand but from all over the world, yummy pastries (I never eat pastries/desserts from breakfast buffets). Moreover, the cheese selection? On point! It’s one of those buffets you never want to leave, so make sure you wake up early.
I loved my staycation at the SO Sofitel, even if I was in my own hometown I really felt like I was far away on a holiday. They have everything you need at the hotel. A chocolate bar in the lobby with an all you can eat chocolate buffet after lunch time, there’s different restaurants and bars to choose from, an amazing infinity pool overlooking the city, the best SPA in Bangkok, a roof top bar with a killer skyline view… Just walking around the hotel and exploring is an adventure on its own.
I’ll be here every Monday for some Mojito madness.
This is where the pool party is held, overlooking Bangkok city.
Talking about the crazy pool venue and sun deck SO Sofitel Bangkok hosts a pool party at the end of every month. I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s so much fun! Another new thing that I’ve learned is that every Monday there is a Mojito madness going on at MIXO bar. There’s an all you can drink Mojitos from 7-9pm. They are super delicious… I tried them all…
View from Park Society at night. Perfect for some romantic late night drinks.
Dreaming back to the days when I was able to go 5 full days on a juice detox. It was a pretty surreal feeling and looking back at it I’m sure I would never have been able to do that on my own. So thankful I have Tom who doesn’t mind trying out new stuff with me but also the amazing people at LifeCo that constantly pushed us to becoming our greatest. I would not have been able to do it if they weren’t there all the time. It’s nice because you’re on a schedule and they will find you and serve you whatever you need to consume on time. For me I tried to get away with it and not have my shots and so but there was always this one guy who would always stand by my side until I had consumed it all. Remembering how my body looked at that point and also how clear my mind was I do want to try it again, but I know there is no way I can do it here in Bangkok with all these outside distractions.
We’re half way through the fifth season of The Amazing Race Asia. Going to Ho Chi Minh City put us all on the same level as no one had a language advantage here. That being said, this was the first leg that even the most skilful person would have trouble with. Language barrier or not. I think that’s the thing with the Amazing race though, it really is a race for anyone, and everyone should stand an equal chance. The fifth leg was based on a lot of luck… first challenge was to fish 4 prawns from a pond which had everyone scratch their heads in agony.
Slow and steady, but totes stressing out.
The worst luck based challenge was the fast forward. We had decided beforehand that there was no way we were going for a fast forward, it was just too risky. But, when we got there, we somehow decided to go for it anyway as no other team was going for it. The clue said that you needed to eat yourself through bowls of rice to find a lucky coin hidden in one of the bowls. Little did we know that there was 200 of them. We went there determined to finish the task, but after 4 bowls of rice and Alex and Will from team Malaysia arriving we decided we didn’t trust in our luck and went fishing instead.
You had to crush these clay pots and eat the rice one by one- and you had to eat them in turn.
Tom caught the first two prawns in the speed of lightning and it didn’t take long until we had caught up with the 3 teams that were still at the challenge. The third prawn didn’t come long after. Teams were leaving and there were only us and JK and Mike left towards the end. It felt like all the prawns were gone, and soon it felt like hope was fading away. We were both catching and loosing prawns one by one. Of course JK and Mike manages to get their fourth prawn and are on their way. It takes around 15 minutes before I catch the next prawn and we are on to our next clue. I think at this point that we are HOURS behind the first teams.
People are pointing out that I was carrying the flowers in the market… first of all it wasn’t that heavy and second of all I’d run around the market carrying this for at least 10 times instead of eating the exotic foods.
We were starting to feel like we were out, and that Will and Alex must have found that coin as they never showed up at the prawn pond. (We were there for hours). Traffic in HCM was terrible and it took ages for us to get to the next clue. We finally got to Mr. Loc and decided to go for the flower power detour. Luckily we spot JK and Mike still strolling around trying to collect the flowers. Luckily they weren’t able to spot the marked vendors as fast as us, and we also had our physical advantage meaning we sprinted past them. Finally we could stand a chance to no get eliminated. We finished the task with at least a 10-15 minute lead. The next clue was to head to Quan Bui. It was a roadblock! It was initially my turn to take the roadblock but we both knew we would not be able to maintain the lead if I was going for an exotic snack.
It was going well in the beginning until we found out that the whole animal needed to be eaten. We’re talking chewing them down, bones included. There were five courses, rat, bats, centipedes, scorpions and a gigantic lizard. It was sick as you had to see the whole animal, skin and all in a natural position. Luckily you were allowed to twist of the head and tale and leave it on the plate.
JK and mike arrives while Tom is on dish number two… he did not seem to have any troubles eating the stuff he was getting served, and managed to beat us to it. Of any challenge we had to go head to head with JK, it was typical that it was an eating one!
This guys is my hero!
We were out of luck and saw them run right before us to get a taxi, the pit stop wasn’t far away, and when we came to the roundabout we saw JK and Mike run up. It was a horrible feeling, thinking that you’re last and the only team you’re competing with beats you by seconds.
Love you bae, wherever this race takes us it will still be another tick on the list of doing the unimaginable together!
We were so happy when Allan said we were the 6th team to arrive on the mat, but also sad as it meant Will and Alex didn’t complete the fast forward and ended up being eliminated.
How will it go in the next episode? Tune in on AXN 8pm Bangkok time!
I had a meeting at my old company yesterday and have decided I’ll start working for them part time again. I’ll tell you more about it all later. If I have any Norwegians reading my blog who would like to live in Thailand please let me know, it pays well and is a good opportunity to gain some experience in sales but also a great chance to live abroad for a year. Work permit and visa is provided so there’s not much you have to think about. More work related I might be shooting for booking.com soon. If it all goes through *fingers crossed* we have decided to get the Dji Mavic Pro. It will be great for our ThaiTrails videos, Tom’s vlog and just travel videos in general- it makes such a difference. Tom has done a great job in convincing me to start a vlog and with the drone it should be a done deal.
We took Diego to the Vet the other day to get neutered, so far he’s been recovering so well- I’ll definitely be mentioning the hospital on the blog after the stitches are removed and I’m 100% they did a good job.
Now I’m off to the gym again, need to go before people finish their office hours. Somehow people LOVE going to the gym straight from work. There’s nothing worse than a crowded gym…
Of all the episodes this far I think the Thailand leg was the toughest for us. Not just because of the physical challenges and all the hustling to get to places but mostly because we really wanted the first position. It is our home country after all- that being said Phuket isn’t our area- Bangkok is! We managed to get the taxi before everyone else. I was not aware that the rest of the people was stuck at the taxi counter for that long, and not least the mean looks we got when we ran away from there.
While we were exiting the airport our taxi driver told us that he didn’t have enough gas to get to the elephant park… We were kind of freaking out as we thought everyone was right in our heels. Luckily we found a gas station on the way and made sure he filled the tank 100% in case we would need him further. He was a trooper though, he understood that we were on a race and went on as fast as he could (not many does!).
Around 45 minutes later when we were turning in to the section where the elephant park was, we spotted another taxi, it was Maggie and Parul. We saw that they were ahead but they were heading on the wrong course so we quickly turned in on the narrow road leading us to the park making us the first team to arrive.
When we got there we weren’t quite sure what piles we were heading for, you pretty much have to make a guess as the clues are somewhat vague sometimes- but holds enough information for you to be able to execute the task. That’s the bad side of being the first at a challenge- you can’t follow another example, you simply have to pave the way. It’s always best to arrive second. Collecting the pineapple leaves was hard, they had some sharp thingies sticking out of them and I was wearing a shorts. My legs were all red and full of cuts afterwards. There were also white scorpions in the batch, I’m not even kidding. That being said, the pain did not arrive until after reaching the pit stop.
We finished collecting the leaves first so we had to find the way to elephants and others could just follow our path. We got on the elephants first and even managed to ride them for a bit before Louisa and Treasuri caught up. Now, remember- they arrived 3rd after Maggie and Parul. These girls are hustlers. Not only that- their elephants was also a little hustler and somehow managed to cut our elephant and they took the lead with at least 3o seconds. When we arrived to the pineapple leaves that we had collected earlier in the task, our elephant decided he wasn’t hungry… But, Maggie and Parul’s AND Louisa and Treasuri’s elephant had a bite, meaning they left the sight and we we’re team number 3… after maybe like 10 minutes of trying to make our elephant eat.
Our next clue was to head to Sarasin Bridge, again, our taxi driver was amazing so we arrived there second, we saw Louisa and Treasuri run before us (without their backpacks) and Maggie and Parul arrived when we left the bridge.
Next clue was a detour, untie or Muay Thai. We went for untie and arrived there first. We were kind of hoping that Louisa and Treasuri were lost as you can see from the episode, but they arrived right after us.
Me and Tom had a little argument on how to untie the rope making us leave the detour second, I think Louisa and Treasuri left around 10 minutes before us. We were quick to get to the next place and Louisa was still trying to finish the roadblock. Tom finished it on the second try, way to go babe! It looked hard. You had to balance coins on your head and hands for 15 minutes…
After the roadblock we had to find our next clue on Laypang beach, we got there quite fast and saw Louisa and Treasuri there, they managed to pick up the coconuts before us leaving us 2 minutes behind them and the 2nd team to arrive.
It sucked… because we were SO CLOSE.
Tune in tomorrow to see how we do in the next episode! <3 8pm on AXN!
