Vince & Sam

Vincent Matthew "Vince" Chung^[1] and Samuel "Sam" Wu are a team of Best Buddies and the Official Winners of The Amazing Race Asia 3.

The buddies did not seem like a huge threat early on, finishing in the middle of the pack in the first two legs. However, they managed solid finishes in legs three and four, and really hit their stride by winning the Fast Forward on leg five, developing a lead over the other teams that helped them stay near the top for the next few legs. Except for one close call, they easily made the final four, where their race initially appeared to be over once Sam gave up on the ziplining Roadblock during the penultimate leg, incurring a 4-hour penalty in doing so. However, another team behind them decided to also give up on the same task, allowing Vince & Sam to limp into the final three. Although they started the final leg over four hours behind the other teams due to their penalty, they managed to do well enough in the first half of the leg to book tickets on the same flight to Phuket as Geoff & Tisha. Once they landed in Phuket, Vince & Sam were able to secure a good taxi driver, developing a lead over Geoff & Tisha that they never relinquished. As a result, they were able to cross the Finish Line as winners of The Amazing Race Asia.

Profile[]

Retrieved from axn.asia.com^[2]

Vince[]

Occupation: Comedian & Host
Age: 32
Hometown: Hong Kong

Sam[]

Occupation: University Lecturer
Age: 32
Hometown: Hong Kong

Both started out as teachers but in their spare time, one is a master of words while the other plays with words. Meet Vince Matthew Chung, the former primary school teacher turned full time comedian cum host, and his best bud Samuel Wu, a university lecturer who ranks as one of the top players on the online word game, Prolific.

For those wondering, Prolific is a word puzzle much like the classic Boggle game and yes, this shows how quick thinking the duo, who make up Team Hong Kong, can be. Having met three years ago while working in Hong Kong, the 32-year-olds became fast friends due to similar passions in a variety of things, from acting, hosting, stand-up comedy, and most importantly, partying.

They actually met via mutual friends at a party and things since then have been a blast. Recalls Vince jokingly, Sam "wouldn't leave the area where the food was being served."

This also will not be the first time that the friends have participated in a competitive event together. Vince once made it as a finalist in the first ever nationwide stand-up comedy competition, "The Funniest Person in Hong Kong", and if you hear Sam tell the story, the jokes were all Sam's. "I was very proud of him," enthuses Sam. "They were all my jokes of course, but he denies it vehemently."

One thing that does stand in their way though is their hot headed nature, which has led to confrontations. Sam too has to deal with physical fears as he is terrified of needles and bees. He says, "I was hospitalized after getting stung in the head by a hornet when I was four and since then, I've had a major phobia and if anything flies near or around my head, I freeze instantly."

This is why Sam reckons that Vince is the more physical one, whereas he is the thinking part of the group. And what is their overall strategy? Sam says it is to, "always be part of the pack, and then break away to lead the pack in the middle legs of the race".

But what if it doesn't work? Vince jokes, "I want to bring banana peels to throw onto the ground so that teams running behind us will slip on them."

Yes, Vince is the more competitive of the duo, but it's because being on top is in his blood. Vince has also joined various sports teams, from softball, baseball to football throughout his life and swam competitively from age six to university.

Don't dismiss Sam either as he too can be single minded in his endeavors. Back in 2001, a desire to lose some weight made Sam go on a diet that saw him shed 20 kg over a five month period. "I went from an obese 80kg to a 60kg, through rigorous exercising and dieting," he recalls.

The one thing the duo will do however, is to soak up every experience on this race because this could be their last hoorah, since Vince might be leaving Hong Kong in the near future. You might say they have nothing to lose, but everything to strive for.

The Amazing Race Asia 3[]

Race History[]

Vince & Sam's Race History
Episode	Leg	Destination(s)	Detour Choice (underlined)	Roadblock Performer	Placement	Notes
1	1	Thailand	Race / Rice	No Roadblock	7 of 10	^[1]
2	2	Thailand → Vietnam	Sampan / Some Walk	Sam	5 of 9
3	3	Vietnam	Sticks / Stalks	Vince	2 of 8
4	4	Vietnam → Taiwan	Shoot It / Shape It	Vince	2 of 7
5	5	Taiwan	Used Fast Forward		1 of 6►
6	6	Taiwan → Hong Kong	Get Fishy / Get Lucky	Sam	1 of 5
7	7	Hong Kong → Macau	Dance / Chance	Vince	2 of 5
8	8	Macau → Hong Kong → India	Fish / Fill	Sam	4 of 5
9	9	India	Push / Crush	Vince	1 of 4
10	10	India → Oman	Carpet / Count It	Sam	3 of 4	^[2]
11	11	Oman → Thailand	Pull / Plunge	Sam	1 of 3
				Average	2.45
Legend: The team finished in first place The team finished in last place and was eliminated from the race The team finished in last place in a non-elimination leg The team that won The Amazing Race The team that crossed the Finish Line second The team that crossed the Finish Line third ► The team used the Fast Forward pass > The team used the Yield < Recipient of the Yield ⊂ The team used the U-Turn ⊃ Recipient of the U-Turn
Notes: 1: Vince & Sam originally arrived 5th but they did not pay their taxi driver. They were asked to pay the taxi driver first before they could be checked in. 2: Vince & Sam incurred a four-hour penalty because Sam failed to complete the Roadblock. A.D. & Fuzzie also failed to complete the Roadblock and incurred a four-hour penalty. Since they were the only two teams left to check in at that point, and A.D. & Fuzzie were also "marked for elimination" and failed to come in first place, Vince & Sam were allowed to check in immediately for a 3rd place finish, with their penalty time applied to the start of the next leg. A.D. & Fuzzie were then checked in and eliminated.

Trivia[]

Franchise Records[]

Vince, along with Natalie Glebova and Tisha Silang, are the first contestants from Canada to compete in the race.
Vince & Sam are the first team of racers from Hong Kong to win the race