Well, well... I found tonight's Hong Kong leg very entertaining. I'm still not too thrilled with a few of the remaining teams (cough:::Mirna/Charla:::cough:::Eric/Danielle)... but I thought tonight's challenges were a lot of fun and Hong Kong has always fascinated me.
Four teams remain. Who will be eliminated next?
The teams departed from the House on the Hill in Kuala Lumpur in the order they had arrived. There was less than a two-hour gap between first and last place this time. The first team to leave was the Beauty Queens (Dustin and Kandice) at 12:28 AM while the last team was Oswald and Danny at 2:19 AM.
They had to get flights to Hong Kong, then travel 22 miles to a laundry where they were to receive their next clue. The two-hour gap was meaningless as no flights were available until morning anyway. Of course we had to endure airport drama.
Eric and Danielle tried to stare down Dustin and Kandice as they Yielded them last week. Internet attempts to obtain tickets didn't seem to work this time although I thought it interesting that the Burger King had Internet at the airport. In the end, Oswald and Danny seemed to find the best plan -- going downstairs to await the arrival of the ticket clerk rather than waiting at the closed counter. Alas, they decided they'd work with/help Mirna and Charla.
They said they did it for the karma just as others were saying that karma would get Dustin and Kandice for the Yield. Actually, D/K are right. The Yield is a part of the race. All the teams are supposedly in it to win. But it seems indeed the good karma worked for Danny and Oswald and the bad karma really didn't harm the Beauty Queens.
Danny and Oswald got the first flight out thus sending them directly to first place from last. (Yay!) Most of the airport stuff was the same old sniping between teams. Mirna told the Beauty Queens, "Take your padded bras elsewhere!" And so on... and on. I found it interesting (and not totally safe) that Charla had heelies on in the airport. It did speed them along as Mirna dragged her. Why haven't they used them before? They had to be heelies, right? Eric and Danielle once again ended up on the last flight leaving.
Since the ChaChas, Danny and Oswald, arrived in Hong Kong before any of the other teams, they were the first to find the Fast Forward at the laundry. Well, of course they took it! The clue directed them to the old International Airport where they would take part in a high-speed movie stunt. Now we're talking!
These are the kinds of things I like to see on The Amazing Race! They weren't told exactly what they would be going through before experiencing it, but both took it all in stride. They knew from the gear they had to don that it would be something exciting and probably a tad dangerous. And, it was.
Once geared-up and strapped in, a stunt driver took them through a course which not only was high-speed, it was a roll-over! Woohoo! They both seemed to love it and took their clue which would send them directly to the Pit Stop skipping both the Detour and Roadblock the other teams would face. Oh, and they had to take a Travelocity gnome with them.
But the Detour was kind of cool, too. Well, at least the choice all of the teams made. One of the choices sounded a bit boring, but even Charla and Mirna went for the more physical task. Teams could Kung Fu Fight or be Lost in Translation. The latter was the boring task -- they had to study a sign in Chinese characters, then find it. Yawn! But, hey, when everybody's Kung Fu fighting, you know it's as fast as lightning! Oh, go ahead... click on that Kung Fu fighting link. You know you want to do it.
Dustin and Kandice arrived at the Detour first. Thinking that Charla and Mirna would go for the non-physical task, they went for Kung Fu Fighting. Actually, Charla and Mirna originally went for the Lost in Translation, but changed their minds. Once at the Detour, the teams had to climb up eight flights of scaffolding while being "attacked" by Kung Fu ninja-types.
Dustin and Kandice got through it first, then Charla and Mirna. Danielle and Eric seemed to be lagging way behind due to their later flight, but did the task in great time. I only wish that Danielle wouldn't wear low-cut sports halters in every country. I know some men probably disagree with me on that one. Heck, even the Beauty Queens cover up with t-shirts and such.
From there, teams had to take the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island to find the next clue at the Old Police Headquarters. While Charla and Mirna took the wrong ferry, they remained ahead of Eric and Danielle.
The clue there was a Roadblock and, while not so exciting, dangerous, or even hard, it was sort of fun. It seems the show capitalized on the film industry in Hong Kong, mainly the adventure/crime/martial arts genres. One member from each team had to go through the old headquarters knocking down doors to find a clue in a room. Charla and Eric (not at the same time obviously) really got a kick out of it. (Heh.)
From the Roadblock, teams headed to Victoria Park where there were gnomes on junks floating in the lake. They had to gently pull their chosen gnome to shore without drowning the gnome.
No one drowned the gnomes, but Eric and Danielle seemed to be far behind even though editing attempts of the race to the Pit Stop tried to tie them in with Mirna and Charla. I personally don't think it was as close as they tried to make it seem.
The Pit Stop was at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Danny and Oswald arrived there well before the other other teams due to the Fast Forward. Here's the order of arrival:
1. Oswald and Danny - They also won the most expensive trip of the race, a trip back to Hong Kong for the Chinese New Year. Wow, I'd love that!
2. Dustin and Kandice (don't see that bad karma doing much there)
3. Charla and Mirna
4. Eric and Danielle, saved by a non-elimination leg. They will be marked for elimination next week and must come in first place or suffer a 30-minute penalty.
Okay, what's with the gnomes? They usually have a gnome-challenge each year, but the gnomes are marked to win prizes. Phil didn't ask to see the gnomes although all the teams brought them as directed. Did I miss something? It seemed the ChaCha's trip was a regular non-gnome related first place winning one.
Will Eric realize that he should sometimes listen to Danielle? Is Mirna being suspiciously edited as being nicer to Charla?
So many questions... I guess I'll just have to wait until next week!
