Hearing Phil doing the obligatory "Over 6 continents, 7 countries and 72,000 miles..." was nothing short of an up-lifting experience. I'm talking about the final episode of The Amazing Race, if you're wondering. The finale reminded me just why I like this Emmy Award-winning reality show in the first place. How could one not get all smittened by a show that lets you tag along chun (slang. amazingly pretty) chicks to equally lovely locations?

That aside, The Amazing Race really gets your adrenaline pumping; the gals are partly responsible for that but mostly, it's the intense competition among the teams. That was especially true in the final episode; my friends and I found ourselves glued to the TV cheering our dream teams on. It was fun while it lasted.
It could have been better if I had someone on my side supporting Chip and Kim. Most of my chums were rooting for better-looking and God-loving (supposedly) Brandon and Nicole. The thing I like about Chip and Kim is that they played the game and actually enjoyed the trips and all. Also, theirs' was the ultimate underdog story; they lagged behind in several legs of the race but emerged as winners at the end of the day.

The Amazing Race serves as another prime example that money is a great motivator. The lure of lucre makes lying, deceiving, stabbing people in the back, doing all kinds of "things you never thought you could achieve" necessary things to do. And it's all in the game, they say. As demonstrated by nouveau millionaire Chip, should praying to God Almighty fail when facing a physically daunting task, muttering "1 million dollars... 1 million dollars..." under your breath could be a real big boost.

Now, who says money is the root of all evil? Rich Dad would say that it's the lack of money that is the real devil. I would say that having lots of money but not sharing with nice people like yours truly is truly evil to the core. Am still hankering for this bloody expensive piece of photographic hardware: Nikon D70. For several thousand Malaysian Ringgit, I only get part of the camera (the body); the lenses cost another serious sum of moolah. And according to Yap, to cover the 20mm-200mm range of lenses, you need to set aside an amount no less than what you would pay for a relatively inexpensive car. Darn, why doesn't money grow on trees? Better yet, why doesn't it fall like the way big fat raindrops have been falling these past few days? It's the rainy season at my side of the globe, you see.