It was an early 6:30 AM start for The Dahl Family as we headed over to San Fernando. Jessa was signed up for a contest hosted by Beatmaster, a major vlogger here in the Philippines with millions of followers. The stakes were high—a grand prize of 500,000 Pesos. Now, that is a life-changing amount of money in this country, so you can bet Jessa was feeling the pressure, even if she was trying to play it cool.
Before the contest even began, I was trying to guess what kind of challenges they’d face. Jessa thought it might involve a hole in the ground, while I was betting on some sort of maze or puzzle-solving. As it turned out, we were both right! The event started with a literal pit and moved into a complex maze.
Of course, in true Philippine tradition, we couldn't just dive into the competition. First, there was a massive spread of food—Lechon, rice, the whole works. You know what they say: Lechon and rice make for a happy life. After everyone was fueled up, the Beatmaster himself laid out the rules to a crowd of excited vloggers. The briefing took what felt like forever, but eventually, it was time for the games to begin.
The first challenge was the "pit." About twenty contestants were dropped into a hole in the ground, and to get out, they actually had to use teamwork. Jessa was smart; she worked with another player to crawl her way out. But the organizers added a sneaky twist—they started throwing cash into the pit while people were trying to climb out. It was a social experiment at its finest! Some people completely abandoned the teamwork just to grab the money, while others, like Jessa, focused on the goal and made it to the next round.
Jessa made it into the top ten and entered the maze, but that’s where her luck ran out. To escape the maze and move to the final round, you had to find a specific key. Jessa found a key, but unfortunately, it wasn't the correct one. She was a bit bummed, but she took it like a champ. She even did a little exit interview about the experience, and despite the loss, she had an absolute blast.
The finale was intense. The final contestant had a chance to win the full 500,000 Pesos. He had to reach into a glass box filled with pythons—including a Bermuda python and some albino ones—to find the right key for a lock, all within one minute. He had already won 100,000 Pesos earlier in the maze and was getting a bit cocky about it. I was half-hoping the snakes would give him a little reality check! He didn't manage to unlock the final prize in time, but he still walked away with 200,000 Pesos total. Not a bad day’s work at all.
Even though Jessa didn't bring home the half-million, she didn't leave empty-handed—she won a consolation prize and some great memories. It was an amazing, high-energy day, and it was great to see her competing alongside so many other creators.
See you in the next one!
