Amazing Race - 11.16.08

I am so happy that Kelly and Christy are gone, I'm nearly giddy.

The teams start in Delhi, and Nick and Starr are the first to leave, heading for lovely Almaty, Kazakhstan, to then head to a chicken factory. I'm sure you've seen the Borat-heavy promos for this week's show, so this destination is not exactly a surprise. At the travel agency, while their team members look for flights, Starr and Dallas took a moment to do some flirting.

I'm kind of missing Tina's bright green hair. Starr and Nick were upset to see Ken and Tina getting in line for the same flight, and Toni told them to not be catty about it, pretty much. The three of those teams got on the first flight, and Terence and Sarah got onto a second flight, arriving an hour and a half later. Dan and Andrew got on a third flight out.

In lovely Kazakhstan, the first teams headed out to the chicken factory in the middle of the night. Ken and Tina made the obligatory joke about not counting chickens before they hatch. It would seem that the three different flights don't make a lick of a difference, because the chicken factory doesn't open until 7:30 AM. I hate when that happens. The bottlenecks are frustrating for a race. Dan and Andrew arrived after daylight, and after their cabbie had a hard time at first finding the place, they eventuall caught up just as the gates opened. It was a mad race for the clue.

It's a Roadblock - Close encounter of a "bird" kind. They need to search among a huge amount of chickens for one of seven golden eggs.

There is also a Fast Forward opportunity. Teams must travel to a restaurant and both team members must eat a traditional Kazhak feat, consisting of the fat from the rear end of a sheep. Terence and Sarah and Nick and Starr went for the Fast Forward. Everyone else searched for the golden egg. Having smelled chicken poop before, I might choose the sheep ass fat.

Toni was the first to find her golden egg, and the next stop is to take a crane truck to a Mongol warrior recreation to get their next clue. Andrew got his clue next, and Tina finally found hers, too. There are only two Mongol warriors, so someone is going to have to wait for their clue.

Meanwhile, at the Fast Forward, both teams arrived and ordered their food. Starr wisely skipped looking at the part of the menu that outlined what the food they were ordering was, while Terence turned out to be a vegetarian, so he was not so pleased to see piles of meat served to him. I couldn't suppress a giggle. Don't choose a Fast Forward at a restaurant when you have such dietary restrictions. It's a pretty good bet for it to be meat filled.

Toni and Dallas arrived at the Mongol warriors first, and a giant eagle flew in to give them their Detour Clue.

Play like Mad - Go to a musical museum and learn to play tradional musical instruments to play a folk tune, then once they have learned the song well enough, go to a local park and play until they get the equivalent of $1.50 in tips before moving on.

Act like fools - Go to a children's puppet theatre, find the wardrobe department, dress in a two person cow costume, wander the streets to a marked stall, drink a glass of milk, get the next clue, which will lead them to a butcher where they are to "deliver themselves." Hilarious.

Dallas and Toni are up to being a cow. As they are leaving, Ken and Tina show up, while Dan and Andrew are still having a hard time finding the place.

At the Fast Forward, Terence gave up, while Nick and Starr worked on finishing theirs. Terence took the time to throw up before heading back to the Roadblock. Nick and Starr got their sheep ass fat down and off to the Pit Stop they went. I am proud of them. Each of them won a 180 HP Wave Runner for using after the race.

Sarah went out in search of golden eggs, and she was asking the chickens to "move please." Because chickens always appreciate courtesy. She found the egg, but I don't think the niceties helped.

They could be in the game still, because Dan and Andrew are having a hard time finding the Mongol Warriors.

The first cow heads out into the street, with Dallas in front, and Toni in back. They headed out into the street with moos all around, and were having fun with it. Ken and Tina went out as well, and Ken tried to moo as well, but Tina scolded him for having fun. Tina found the milk stand fist, and called it "warm and strong." She drank the milk down, but she didn't see that she had to read a clue on the bottom of the glass. Toni and Dallas got their clue properly, and headed off to the butcher. Tina finally realized that she made a mistake and returned to the milk stand, got the clue, and then they made the (possibly) fatal error to return their cow costume first. Ken questioned this decision, but went along with it anyway. The cow that was Dallas and Toni got the clue to the pit stop, and are told to bring their cow head with them. On their way out, they met up with Ken and Tina, and told them that they had to be wearing their costume. Ken and Tina went to the meat section anyway, but were turned away for lack of costume, so back they went.

Dan and Andrew got their cow on, but left their shoes in the costume shop. Not sure about that decision. Terence and Sarah also chose to wear the cow, and Sarah mentioned putting her shoes in her bag. Probably a good idea. I don't like her much, but I am still impressed with the fact that Sarah seems to know a few terms in most languages they are encountering. Dan and Andrew offered a guy "1000" in unnamed currency to show them to the places they had to go, and they quickly got through their task, but they decided to take a cab to the pitstop. Phil sent them back to the end of the pitstop, to walk back. They cabbed it back, to return by foot. Terence and Sarah mooed their way to the meat market, and started out. Dan and Andrew realized their mistake in not grabbing their shoes, because it's hard to run in cow costume boots. They got into a tiff with each other about pace, and got kind of lost. Still, they managed to beat Terence and Sarah to the pit stop.

My hopes for an elimination leg are granted. Stalker Terence and Sarah are eliminated. I will not miss them. I am thrilled.

And you? Who are you rooting for now? I'm really loving the way that Dallas and Toni and Nick and Starr are running the race, so I'd be happy with either of them.