Exploring Asia on two wheels

It may be her fourth time here, but Ride N' Seek travel host Jaime Dempsey cannot get enough of Asia.

She tells Life!: "I love Asia. It has so much culture and there are so many different things around here that I'd definitely require much more time to explore."

Ride N' Seek is a host-driven motorcycle documentary by A+E Networks Asia and airs on cable television channel History (StarHub TV Channel 401).

In the new second season, Dempsey will be taking a road trip on her bike across East Malaysia and Brunei to explore both mainstream and "off the beaten track" locations and activities over the course of 30 days. This latest season comprises six episodes and premieres in August.

In the first season of Ride N' Seek, which aired in June last year, she travelled through Peninsula Malaysia on her bike.

Outside of filming, the 38-year-old, who lives in California, works at a bar and designs swimwear.

She stopped over in Singapore last Tuesday and left for Malaysia a day later. Filming for the new season starts today.

Dempsey, who has been to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in Asia so far, says: "I received many requests on my Facebook page from viewers in the Philippines and Indonesia to visit their countries next, so I'd definitely love to take Ride N' Seek to these two places."

Mr Chris Humphrey, 48, production director for A+E Networks Asia which distributes History in Asia, says: "We invited Jamie back for a second season of Ride N' Seek as she has a genuine fanbase in this region. We love that she is still new to travelling in Asia so she sees everything with a fresh set of eyes and is game for anything."

Dempsey may be a big fan of Asia, but how did locals in fairly conservative Peninsula Malaysia take to a heavily tattooed American biker girl when she visited the last time?

"I was actually surprised at how accepting people were of me. Many of them admired my tattoos, especially the kids, and they were very willing to teach me the customs and traditions of their culture," she says chirpily, adding that people would approach her on the streets for pictures.

Viewers can expect season two of Ride N' Seek to be more physically challenging for Dempsey as she will be travelling on unsurfaced roads or tracks a lot more.

Because of this reason, she will be rotating between riding two bikes instead of just one like she did in the last season.

"I'll be using the Harley Dyna Wide Glide for long rides on smooth roads but will switch to the Ducati Hyperstrada, which is suitable for trickier road conditions when I go off-road," says Dempsey, who currently owns two bikes.

She is also more confident of handling the aggressive traffic conditions on Malaysian roads this time round.

She recalls: "There were so many motorists overtaking each other and vehicles coming at me in every direction the last time I was here. I'm definitely going to be more careful and keep my eyes open on both sides of the road."

While the bubbly blonde, who is married to a bartender and has no children, is excited to start filming, she admits that she is a little nervous about some of the activities lined up for her.

She was told by producers that she would be getting more up close and personal with nature this season. That means having to face some of her greatest fears. In one episode, she will be visiting the Maliau Research Centre in Sabah, East Malaysia, to collect huge jungle insects.

"I'm a city girl, so anything involving insects or being alone in the dark scares me," Dempsey says, adding that she is most afraid of large spiders such as tarantulas.

While she is not too fond of being surrounded by creepy crawlies, she is, however, looking forward to savouring Malaysian food again.

This season, she will get to sample ikan buntal, a poisonous pufferfish that is a Malaysian delicacy, and try baking Kong Piang, a biscuit popular in Sibu.

"Teh tarik, chendol and goreng pisang were my favourite foods last season. I gained so much weight back then but I am prepared to make the sacrifice again," she says with a laugh.

Ride N' Seek Season 2 premieres on Aug 18 and will be shown every Monday at 9pm, on History (StarHub TV Channel 401).

This article was first published on May 28, 2014.
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