Amazing Race Fodder

The Amazing Race goes to Japan

This week things get a little shaken up on The Amazing Race. Teams leave in the same order they arrived, only this time, they didn't leave in the middle of the night. Usually the teams leave at a 12 hour difference than when they arrived, but not this time. TK & Rachel got their clue first. It told them to fly to Osaka, Japan and find the Kishiwata Castle.

Tk & Rachel get on a flight that leaves at 6:30 while the other teams get on a flight leaving around 8:00. Logically, Tk & Rachel should arrive first, but they have two lay overs where the other teams only have one. Actually it turns out that the other teams get in WAY ahread of them. We don't see much of Tk & Rachel this episode.

When the teams arrive in Japan, the first ones to get out of the airport are Nathan & Jennifer who grab a taxi to their destination. In a surprising turn of events, Christina spent 6 months in Japan learning the language, so she is at a slight advantage here. It does not take a long time for the teams to reach the castle and find their next clue that tells them to take a taxi to JR Noda Station where they must find the cleaning man to get their next clue.

Nathan & Jennifer are the first to arrive at Noda station, the cleaning man's clue is a ROADBLOCK. In this roadblock, one team member must be a Japanese taxi driver. They make them wear a cap and gloves and have them take a Japanese couple to a destination. The couple is not allowed to give them directions and they are not allowed to pay someone else and follow them. Did I mention that the couple gives them a set of instructions in Japanese? Christina is in luck because she doesn't need to find someone to translate, she just needs to get directions. As it turns out, all of the team members are headed to the post office. Once they get there, the couple hands them the next clue and they have to navigate their way back to their partner.

Believe it or not, Nicolas is the one that has the most trouble here. He can't seem to find his way back to Donald. I have never been to Japan, but it seemed to me that there was a lot of "I can see where I need to go, but I can't get there from here because the streets don't go that way". Anyone who is not native to Seattle and has tried to drive anywhere there, can relate to that statement. Nathan & Jennifer finish the task first. Can I just say now, that I was so pleased last week when they were on the bottom. I thought for sure that they would be behind and get eliminated this week, but no such luck!

The clue the teams received from the passenger tells them to travel by taxi to Kita-Mido Temple a 16th century Buddhist temple, where they will find their next clue. Jennifer is under the impression that no one in Japan speaks English, I have to break it to her, but they ALL have to study it in school. They can speak it they just do not want to speak it to YOU. Probably because she does things like trying to get the taxi driver to look at her when he is driving so that she can mime running to him in an effort to get him to understand that they are in a race. Smooth move. Yet, still, they manage to get to the temple first. The clue they open here is a DETOUR. In this detour, teams choose between Sense of Touch or Sense of Smell. In Sense of Touch, teams must travel to a robotics company where they will play a game of robotic soccer against two defenders. They must each score a goal and they can only use the cell phones and written instructions to move their robots. In Sense of Smell, teams travel to a silk flower shop and using only their sense of smell must find the real flowers hidden among the fake. They are not allowed to touch them before they make a choice.

Ronald & Christina and Nathan & Jennifer choose to smell it out. While Donald & Nicolas touch the robots. Tk & Rachel? Who knows they just got to Japan and have not even made it to the first destination yet. (actually they smell it out too) Jennifer manages to sniff out a real flower as does Christina. All in all, Donald did a pretty good job working his robot. Once they finished, the clues they receive tells them to travel by taxi to the next Pit Stop, Tempozan Park, named for the lowest mountain in Japan. The teams arrived at the Pit Stop in the following order:

1. Ronald & Christina who each win an electric vehicle that seats four. Cool!

2. Nathan & Jennifer (still upset that they didn't get a chance to come in first)

3. Donald & Nicolas

4. TK & Rachel, who are NOT eliminated from the race as this is a non-elimination leg. Woo Hoo, but they are 3 hours behind the other teams.

Tune in next week to see Tk & Rachel face their Speedbump.


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