SINGAPORE?The fourth season of ?The Amazing Race Asia? turned out to be ?A Show of Riches.?

The Philippine team, composed of athlete Richard Hardin and model Richard Herrera (a.k.a. ?The Riches?), bested nine other duos from all over the region, racing across 15 cities in eight countries, covering over 38,000 kilometers and becoming US$100,000 ?richer? in the process.

The Riches also hogged the limelight during the show?s cast party, held on Thursday night at the spanking SkyPark (on the 57th floor) of Marina Bay Sands.

In true reality-show fashion, Hardin stunned most of the revelers at the party when he proposed to girlfriend Andrea Barandiaran onstage. (She mercifully said yes.)

The Riches, who are now eyeing a possible gig as hosts of an adventure show, were high on their victory that night, but were quick enough to acknowledge their fellow contestants in the race.

?The other Philippine team (tattooist Jacinta James and model Lani Pillinger) was just as tough,? Hardin told Inquirer Entertainment. ?We got surprised when they got eliminated in Korea.? (James and Pillinger were in the top four.)

Herrera agreed: ?There were a lot of strong teams this year. At one point, we were neck and neck with the others in the top three.?

The Riches found the two other teams in the top three (Singapore?s Claire Goh and Michelle S. Ng and Indonesia?s Natasha and Hussein Baron Sutadisastra) as worthy opponents in the final leg held in Singapore.
Father-daughter team
?The Singaporean girls (second place) were fast. The father-and-daughter team from Indonesia (third place) was consistent,? said Herrera.

Goh, Ng and the Sutadisastras had kind words for the Riches as well.

?We?re proud of them. They fought a good fight,? said Ng, an actress.

?They worked as hard as anyone else and they played as best as they could,? said Goh, a musician.

?They are gentlemen,? said the younger Sutadisastra who?s a beauty queen and Bahasa language tutor. ?They deserved to win.?

?They played well,? said the elder Sutadisastra who teaches in the Padesan School for the deaf and indigent. ?I?m happy for them especially since I am half-Pinoy, too.? (His mother Natividad Alfonso is Filipino and rocker Sampaguita?s cousin.) ?There are no cultural differences ? We are all Asians here.?

Ng has apparently fallen in love with the Philippines and plans to relocate to Manila soon. ?Mahal kita Philippines,? Ng quipped. ?I am trying to learn the Filipino language before making my move next year.?

In spite of the frayed nerves and constant quibbling, the runners-up considered the competition an ?enriching and enlightening? experience in more ways than one.

?Michelle and I have always been best friends,? said Goh. ?But now, we?ve become better friends. Our fights made our friendship stronger. Now, we understand each other more.?

The younger Sutadisastra agreed: ?The race has brought us closer. I?ve become even more proud of my dad.?

?I wanted to show my daughter that we could play the game with integrity,? said the older Sutadisastra.