Recap: The Amazing Race 14, Episode 11 – “Oh my God, I feel like a drag queen.”

Episode 14.11: He Made Me Look Like Alice Cooper

The leg continues with Phil giving Jaime and Cara their next clue.  They have to make their way TO BIKES for their next clue.  They are frustrated the first time they arrive first, it isn’t a Pit Stop.

Margie & Luke arrive next and head back out on the road.  Margie says she doesn’t want to hear Luke yell out “Mom” all the time.

Jaime & Cara arrive at the clue and find out they must now search shops on the streets of the Beihai Street Mall and find one of four Travelocity roaming gnomes, which they need to keep with them until the Pit Stop.

Tammy & Victor get to Phil and head back to tell their taxi driver they were tricked by Phil.

On the way to the Mat, Jen is upset over the Detour, but Kisha tells her not to cry.  They get to the Phil, who tells them the leg isn’t over and they are shocked.  He tells them not to give up.  They get back to their taxi and Kisha tries to  pronounce the place they have to go to which makes their driver chuckle.  “I tried” Kisha explains.

Tammy & Victor arrive at the shops and now three teams are looking for the Gnome.  Margie & Luke find it first and the clue tells them to head to Gu Gong Xi Bei Jiao where they will find electric bicycles across from the moat.  They will ride those bikes past the Forbidden City and through Tiananmen Square to the Dongdan subway station where they will find their next clue.

Jaime & Cara are close behind Margie & Luke but can’t find a taxi that knows where to go.  Tammy & Victor find their gnome and they manage to find a taxi quickly heading out first.

Margie & Luke get one and Jaime & Cara seem to find one, but they aren’t sure.  After they scare him with the gnome’s pointy hat, he seems very annoyed while Jaime gets annoyed when no one ever gives them a simple acknowledgement yes or no with a shake of the head.

Tammy & Victor get to the bikes and head off through traffic.
Margie & Luke arrive and Jen & Kisha are close behind.  Jaime & Cara have trouble with getting to the right place (a sign of things to come) and get back into a taxi until they finally find the clue box.

Tammy & Victor ride past Tiananmen Square as the flag ceremony is taking place.  They get to the clue, the Detour.


In this Detour, teams have to choose between Beijing Opera or Chinese Waiter.
In Beijing Opera<, teams make their way to the Hu Guang Hui Guan Opera House where they have to make each other up as a princess and gentleman at the Chinese opera.  When they are full made up and in costume, they will present themselves to the opera master for their next clue.
In Chinese Waiter, teams make their way to the Hu Guang Hui Guan restaurant where they will choose a table of hungry patrons who will give their orders in Mandarin.  They must then recite to the chef those orders in Mandarin and after they say them correctly, they’ll serve the prepared dishes to the patrons and given their next clue.

Tammy & Victor decide to do Chinese Waiter since they can understand Mandarin.  Kisha & Jen pass Margie & Luke and get to the clue.  They choose the opera and Kisha tells Jen she wants to be the princess, this could be her only chance to do so.

Margie & Luke and Jaime & Cara arrive next and both choose the opera as well, but Jaime & Cara can’t find a free taxi.

Tammy & Victor get to the restaurant and listen to the orders: Good Luck Fish, Vegetarian Noodles, Fried Chicken, New Taste Beef, Golden Pork Spare Ribs.
With there being so many nuances in Mandarin, Victor explains, the slightest difference can give a whole new meaning.  They mishear “fish” as “squid” and have to go back to get the orders again.

Kisha & Jen get to the opera and begin the make-up.  Margie & Luke arrive and seeing their rivals pushes them to try and beat them.  Unfortunately for them, it makes Luke go crazy on his mother’s face, prompting Margie to look in horror in the mirror which gets Luke frustrated as he tries to finish.

The sisters finish and go get dressed.

Jaime & Cara finally get a taxi and they attempt operatic singing to explain to their driver where to go.

Tammy & Victor go back to the chef, get their pronunciation right this time and the staff prepares the orders.  The siblings then bring the orders to the table and a woman hands them their next clue telling them to make their way on foot to find the U-Turn, which will not be Blind this time.

Tammy & Victor run down their options: Margie & Luke are the strongest team, Jaime & Cara have the most competitive spirit and Kisha & Jen are the most athletic.  The siblings decide to U-Turn Jen & Kisha with Tammy writing on their picture “Sorry. I can’t outrun you!!”

They then get their next clue telling them to make their way to Dong Hua Men Yi Shi Market for the next one, which is a Road Block. 


In this Road Block, teams have to enjoy some local Chinese delicacies: fried grasshoppers, larvae, scorpion and starfish.  After eating a plate of the fried street foods, they’ll get their next clue.

Victor decides to do the Road Block and is about to take a bite but they say it isn’t cooked yet, much to his relief.  Once they’re done and ready, he starts eating.

Across town, Kisha & Jen are still trying to find the U-Turn, but they have no luck.  Margie & Luke are in the same boat.  Meanwhile, Jaime & Cara still have trouble finding a taxi.

Victor finishes eating and they get their next clue telling them to head to Niao Chao, better known as the Bird’s Nest Stadium and find Phil and Mat.

Tammy & Victor head to the Pit Stop, knowing easily what Niao Chao meant, and check in first.  Phil tells them, not only have they won a trip to the Galapagos, they are the first of the final three teams to Race for the million.

Bringing up the rear, Jaime & Cara finish the Detour and knowing they are behind, hope Tammy & Victor U-Turned Margie & Luke or Kisha & Jen.

The three teams meet up and none of them know where they are going.  Neither do the people they ask.

Margie & Luke are told to go back to the opera house and they finally find the U-Turn, ecstatic Kisha & Jen are U-Turned.

They head to the Road Block and Margie does it.

Their arch-enemies find the U-Turn and though annoyed, they go to the restaurant and begin.  They write down the dishes how they thought they sounded and they repeat them to the chef though apparently what they say mean something completely different:
Fried Chicken = Monthly Use Taiwanese Chicken
Vegetarian Noodles = Good Western Heads Lack Fish
New Taste Beef = Oil Comes Again to Please the Mouth
Good Luck Fish = Good Doll Basket Drum
Golden Pork Spare Ribs = Light Competition Red Dishes I’ve Played Before

On their third try, they get them all right and the staff goes to prepare the dishes.
Meanwhile, Jaime & Cara still haven’t found the U-Turn.  They tell a man they are asking for directions that they’ve been looking for three hours.  He seems to know where it is, but he says he is busy.

Jen & Kisha complete their 2nd Detour and head off to the stall.  Jaime & Cara still haven’t found the U-Turn and eventually decide to go back to where they came from, the opera, and start there.

The sisters arrive at the food and Jen decides to do the Road Block.  When the girls finally find the U-Turn, their frustration causes them to get snippy with each other.

Margie & Luke get to the Pit Stop and finish 2nd.  The 2nd of three teams to race for the million.

Jaime & Cara finally arrive at the food as Jen is slowly eating her plate while downing them with lots of water.

Two teams, only one spot left.
Jaime & Cara have hope if they hurry, they can make it.

Jen finally finishes, but she’s gotta pee.  They head off leaving the cheerleaders at the food.

Cara finishes as well and they hustle to the Pit Stop, but not forgetting their gnome which they run back for.  Their taxi driver is stepping on it and the girls are excited, wondering where he’s been the entire Race.

Jen & Kisha arrive at the Olympic plaza, but don’t know exactly where to go yet.  They see some port-a-potties and Jen goes in to pee.  Kisha didn’t want her to pee herself.

The two teams run for the Mat and Jaime & Cara end up finishing 3rd.  The final 3 is complete and Phil tells them they have the chance to be the first all-female team to win the Race.

Jen & Kisha step on the Mat and Phil tells them they are last and eliminated.  Phil tells them it came down to seconds.  Jen says she feels guilty for needing to pee, but Kisha tells her she has nothing to feel guilty about and they wouldn’t have made it as far as they did if it wasn’t for her.

Overall
It was an interesting leg.  It must have been very fun riding around on a bike passing some of Beijing’s monuments and historical centers.  It must have also been fun putting on the make-up and dressing up.  It is always great to interact with the local culture, so teams having to learn some Mandarin (in what little way they did) would be fun as well.

I don’t know if eating starfish would be fun, but it was fun watching the teams do it.

We didn’t really see the double leg affect the teams as much in terms of fatigue or what not.  Maybe the snippy attitudes the girls had or Margie & Luke had might be attributed to no rest, but I didn’t think they were any more snippy than usual.

It would’ve been more awesome if TAR had managed to use more of the Olympic venues, but it was still nice to see a lot of China these last three weeks.

The final three teams are set and they are coming home next week.  It really could be anyone’s million now.

Leg Ten Itinerary
(Continued)

DEPARTURE/MAT
Drum Tower – North Gate
Beijing, China

ROUTE MARKERS
Beijing, China
Gu Gong Xi Bei Jiao
Dong Dan Di Tie Zhan (Dong Dan subway station)
Tiananmen Square

DETOUR
Hu Guang Hui Guan restaurant
Hu Guang Hui Guan Opera House
Beijing, China

ROAD BLOCK
Dong Hua Men Yi Shi Market
Beijing, China

PIT STOP
Niao Chao – Beijing National Stadium
Beijing, China

Departure Arrival/Order from Leg Midpoint
Beijing, China
Jaime & Cara
Margie & Luke
Tammy & Victor
Kisha & Jen

Who Did the Detour?

BEIJING OPERA
*


CHINESE WAITER

*

*Being U-Turned, Kisha & Jen completed both Detours

Road Block Count

In order of completion; Italics indicate who did this week’s Road Block
Who’s got a taste for adventure?
6 Cara Jaime 4
6 Kisha Jen 4
5 Tammy Victor 5
5 Luke Margie 5
5 Mark Michael 3
3 Mel Mike 3
3 Christie Jodi 3
1 Amanda Kris 3
0 Brad Victoria 3
1 Linda Steve 1
1 Preston Jennifer 0

Order of Finish
Tammy & Victor 1st
Margie & Luke 2nd
Jaime & Cara 3rd
Kisha & Jen Philiminated

My Team Rankings for Leg 10, Part II
Tammy & Victor Tammy & Victor – They have managed to push themselves all the way to the end.  Their one leg slip-up is a thing of the past and the two of them have worked well with each other since, which is definitely something you will need to have in the final leg: teamwork.  Thought not necessary to win the Race as we’ve seen in the past, it definitely increases your chances right?
Lakisha & Jennifer Kisha & Jen – They fought hard.  They were one of the few teams that did step it up week after week.  They started the Race off sluggish, but hit their stride as more teams headed to Elimination Station.  It’s tough to see them be able to overcome a U-Turn and come within seconds (minutes?) of a top 3 finish, but they fought hard and made it far longer than many people expected. 
Cara & Jaime Cara & Jaime – Are they going to be the first female team to win an American TAR?  They have a pretty good shot.  It is interesting if they do win because they didn’t run a particularly pretty Race, but they made it this far and it really is anyone’s Race now.  Though like this week, they have their snippy moments with each other and other people (mostly foreign language locals), they work well together and are determined, and that also goes a long way. 
Margie & Luke Margie & Luke – No doubt about it, they really have been one of this season’s strongest teams.  Even with all their underhanded tricks and fainting and pity they try to illicit, you can’t take away the fact that they have Raced pretty well regardless.  It will be a big accomplishment for them to win the Race, but unfortunately for me, I’ll always be reminded of those sneaky behaviors.
Quotes from Episode 14.11
Victor: “I can’t believe I’m carrying a purse and a doll.”

Kisha: “I look a damn clown.”
Jen: “You’re going to scare a lot of children.”

Margie: “Oh my God, I feel like a drag queen.”
Luke: “I’m sorry mom, I’m not a girl!”

Kisha: “I looked a hot mess after a while.”
Jen: “One ugly woman.”

Jen: “We black, not Chinese.”

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