Well, another Amazing year has just flown and blown by.  Who really knows how 2009 will unfold, but I've had the pleasure of enjoying the rest of 2008 as the Friendship Ambassador for Carlsberg's holiday celebrations.  This past weekend, I participated in the Carlsberg roadshows at various pubs and bars in Singapore.  At each of the venues, we got to pen a wish for 2009 on one of the big Carlsberg Wishing Spheres, which will be released into the sky on New Year's Eve...


Also joining me on the roadshow were Irene Ang, Michelle Chia, and Fiona Xie...


We all had a great time at the various happening locations, especially when I could drink as much Carlsberg as I wanted!

Alright, this is where I sign off...

...and wishin ya all a Happy New Year!!  Oh yeah...Don't forget to look out for the next Carlsberg roadshow on January 10, 2009!!

Party Hardy!!!

The ATV (Asian Television Awards) were held last week, and I'm proud to announce that Season Two of The Amazing Race Asia won the award for Best Adaptation of an Existing Format.  I think it's the first award for the show, and I hope we can win some more in the future, especially since the original U.S. version of The Amazing Race has already won six straight Emmy Awards!
Until the day comes again for the race to bag another award, we were all more than happy to celebrate this one.  In addition to various members from our production crew, some of the racers even appeared on site including Adrian, Vanessa, Collin, A.D., Fuzzy, and Bernie...



And of course, our fearless leader and Executive Producer for The Amazing Race Asia, Michael McKay, just happened to be in town to pick up the award too!  Here he is with season two's winners, Collin and Adrian...

Congratulations to all the production crew who worked on the show.  You truly all deserve this award!!  And thanks to all of our loyal supporters and fans of the show!  We wouldn't be racing around the world if it weren't for you! 

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to fly to Kuala Lumpar and speak to a group of prospective students and their parents at Taylor's University College.  Several months earlier, the university had expressed interest in me being their Brand Ambassador for the School of Communications.  Quite frankly, I wasn't sure what to make of it initially.  However, I quickly realized that this was something special and so I agreed to accept the challenge of motivating and inspiring young people today about higher education with my own life experiences. 
Even though I have had my own share of time on stage before a live audience, I have never had the chance to prepare a comprehensive speech for half an hour centering around my own life experiences and the value of an education.  In the end, I decided to walk on stage with no notes or any structured presentation.  And surprisingly, it went pretty well this first time round.  Of course, I could still see some members from the audience either starting to doze off and others discreetly vacating the lecture hall, but I didn't let that deter me from essentially talking non-stop for about forty minutes.  Afterwards, my mouth was so dry from talking that next time I'll definitely need to find a moment to drink some water.  But all in all, it was a great experience and also very fulfilling to have this unique opportunity to reach out to the youths of today and highlight the importance of an education.  I'd like to thank all of the people who took the time to attend my presentation and maybe I'll see you sometime next year again when I make another appearance.
Now that I've got the serious stuff outta the way, it's time to get everyone in the holiday mood for some serious partying with the latest Carlsberg campaign that I've been involved in...

Over the past few weeks, I've been involved with some other Singapore actors and actresses on some work for a festive holiday celebration campaign for Carlsberg...


Yep, that's fellow AnD artist Fiona Xie and Michelle Chia chugging the Carlsberg with me...



Once we nailed down the group shots, it was time to do some solo shots for the campaign...




Agghh...there's nothing more fun than "having" to drink on the job.   Of course, you'd better watch your intake if you're one of those people who get red from alcohol!
And once all the Christmas and New Year's celebration shots are on their way to the printing press, it's time to start thinking about Chinese New Year!

...with Mark Lee and Michelle Chong joining the Calsberg party crew!!

Have a great month of December and make sure to look out for the special Carlsberg road show events at your favorite local pub or bar in Singapore! 

Even though I was unable to partake in the festivities and merrymaking this year at the Finale Party for The Amazing Race Asia, I'm happy to be able to see that everyone present had a rockin good time!  Thanks to Marlene at AXN for sending me these pictures so that I can see how great everyone looks after they're all cleaned up once again!  Natalie definitely was back in Miss Universe mode after the race...

The top three teams always enjoy their special time together on stage to share about the entire experience...

...and don't forget to check out the "bump" on Tania, who's got a little "racer" on da way!
A lot of the teams from Season Two and Season One also arrived in Bangkok to partake in the festivities...


Then there's gotta be a group shot for all the teams from this season in the "Toughest Race Ever"...

Congratulations once again to Sam and Vince from Team Hong Kong.  Like I said earlier, you two totally deserved every penny of the prize money!

During the night, it seems that Geoff couldn't keep his eyes--and hands--off the big check from AXN for one hundred thousand US Dollars...

...and even snuck off with it in the end!

I wonder if he tried to cash it too?! 

And just like that, another season of The Amazing Race Asia has been completed.  It's great to know that the show has grown so much in "leaps" and "bounds!" 

As excited as I am from the success of the show, I need to get  a little more "grounded" and talk serious for a bit.  Congratulations to Sam and Vince from Hong Kong in winning the race.  When I warned all the teams that this would be "the toughest race ever," I think they all realized that I wasn't joking around, and the winners truly earned every single penny of that $100,000 USD prize money.  Of course, when I'm working on the show, it's "all business" so it's really nice to have this blog site to allow me to display an "alternative" version of Allan Wu.

The last day of the race is always the most exciting.  After racing nonstop for weeks on end, we're all more than ready for find out who is going to reach the final pit stop first.  And as you all know now, anything can happen to any team at any time during the race so no one is ever safe.
All of us had to take a long tail boat out to Rong Wai Island off the coast of Phuket and the day was a perfect ending to the race...

Some members from our crew even did their own hilarious rendition of Titanic for us to enjoy...

Once we reached the island, it was time to put our work hats back on and fire off the last pieces to camera as quickly as possible because the teams were making their way over to us fast.  I had a great time doing some shots in the water...

...and when it was time to change my outfit, I quickly stole some rays and then raced off to the final pit stop...

While we were waiting for all the teams from this season to assemble for the arrival of the final three teams, I was sweating buckets under the tropical heat as we completed the filming...

This season's finale was definitely different in that each of the last three teams had to lug this heavy treasure chest loaded with one hundred thousand U.S. Dollars cash...

Of course, I would only hand the winning team the correct key to open their chest so that they could enjoy the "fruits of all their labor."  A lot of people have been asking me how deep was the treasure chest in the sand?  Well, here's a shot of it before we buried it...

As you can see, the treasure chest wasn't really that deep.  But because it was so heavy, the teams still had to uncover a lot of sand around the chest just so that they could eventually lift it out.  And thank goodness they did so that our crew could strike one final pose with it on the mat!

And so there you have it, this season of The Amazing Race Asia is finally completed.  If you didn't already know, there was a huge Finale party in Bangkok last Thursday night.  I was all set to attend, but I couldn't change my work schedule in the end so I had to enjoy the final episode from shores of Singapore.  Nevertheless, it was still a blast to see the final three teams racing to the climatic conclusion.  I will try and get some pictures from the Finale party in Bangkok, but here's a shot of all of us at the wrap party right after the finish of the race...

It's been such a pleasure being your host for this race, and I'd like to thank you for all your support and enthusiasm from one season to the next. 

And now, it's time for my favorite part to ride off (or jump off) into the sunset...

So until next time, I'll C ya all later...but I'm sure it'll be sooner!