MANILA, Philippines—It is amazing what a round-the-world, high-intensity race can do for someone. Reality shows bring out people’s true colors, and sometimes we wonder why strange specimens of humanity are given more than their 15 minutes. Case in point: Vanessa Chong. One day she was managing her brother in KL and a few months later emerged as the first runner-up in a heart-pumping season of the Amazing Race Asia. Life has been exciting for Vanessa since finishing the race. “After the race finished, going back to normal life seemed boring. It was like being in love during the race. We still had to keep it a secret for a while,” says Vanessa.

Tall tales

The half British half Chinese Malaysian beauty comes from a close-knit family of six siblings. “We told our family we were going on airline training. My brother was wondering why we had all this gear. We told them we had to go through combat training, you know with all the terrorists, we told him we were to be specially trained! We felt so bad “story telling” that my sister told my dad that we signed a confidentiality clause because this airline flew celebrities and politicians. He told my brothers not to ask any more questions,” she giggles. When the sisters were allowed to tell their families the results of the race, the Chongs were ecstatic.

Coming down from the months of an adrenaline high wasn’t easy for the racers. “After the race we (the teams) decided to just go somewhere together. We weren’t ready to go home. Back home, Pam and I decided to get fit again—hiking, kickboxing, swimming—the race made us fit and we decided we wanted to stay that way!”

The amazing journey

When watching the race, one cannot help but wonder, is that really ALL real? With CGI and the wonders of editing it’s hard to believe everything you see. However, Vanessa was quick to ensure me it was ALL real. “It’s real time. You are always racing. When you open your first clue there is no stopping. You try not to stop even to buy water but you think twice. The pitstop is the only time you get to freshen up, get a good meal, 3-4 hours of sleep, life is on adrenaline.” Being on a reality show is probably the hardest thing to be cast for. Viewers see all the moments in your life: the sad, the funny, the heartwarming and the ugly. “It’s amazing that people recognize us around Asia,” Vanessa humbly says. ” People feel like they know you and are genuinely concerned!”

After finishing the race, Vanessa and her sister Pam have been asked to give motivational speeches in Malaysia for women and young people to encourage them to follow their dreams. Vanessa’s experience shows that fairytale endings can come true. “The race shows that if you put your mind to something you can really do it. In doing the race, I realized that I can follow my own dreams. I believe that you can achieve if you put your mind to it, obviously be realistic about it but you should never give up and be confident,” she says.

Her confidence and beauty has certainly attracted several brands, most recently she was signed as the face of botanical skincare line Elianto to be their face for 2008-2009. Her genuinely pleasant personality radiates throughout the photo shoot as she plays around in front of the camera and strikes a gorgeous pose when the camera clicks. Vanessa’s personality perfectly matches Elianto’s image, bright young, clean and fresh. As the Elianto campaign prepares Vanessa for stardom, first conquering Asia, Vanessa counts her blessings, “The race experience is something money can’t buy.”