Amazing Race: 5.3.09

The leg continues! Will Jamie and Cara keep their lead? It looks like a good one.

They have to make their way to another place in Bejing. Margie and Luke arrive second to the non-pit stop pit stop. Margie is getting a little frustrated at being with Luke 24-7, even though she still loves him, I can understand that...

The location they went to next was a street mall, and they had to search stores for the Travelocity Traveling Gnome, which would have their next clue on it.

Jen and Kisha were pretty excited (to say the least) that their race was not over yet.

Margie and Luke found the gnome first, followed by Cara and Jamie. They were to go find some electric bicycles, and then bike past the Forbidden City.

Cara and Jamie again had troubles with language barriers, as their cabbie seemed to be ignoring them and didn't acknowlege if he knew anything about their destination.

Tammy and Victor found the bikes first, and then Margie and Luke, and Kisha and Jen. Luke almost barged into Jen on his bike. Don't know if it was intentional. They biked through Tienamen Square, and Tammy and Victor arrived first.

Detour

Bejing Opera - They have to make themselves up as opera characters (Gentleman and Princess) and pass inspection before getting their clue.

Chinese Waiter - They have to take restaurant orders in Mandarin and recite them back to the chef properly, and serve the orders properly, to get their clue.

Seems like Tammy and Victor would have quite the advantage with the Chinese Waiter task... and they did that task, so that was an easy choice. Victor said "If we can't do this task, mom and dad will kill us."

The others chose the Opera task.

Tammy and Victor got most of the orders right, but said Good Luck Squid instead of Fish, so got sent back to the table to take more orders.

At the opera house, Luke was not a good make up artist, and Margie said that Luke made her look like Alice Cooper. It was pretty bad. Luke said "Sorry, I'm not a girl." Luke then said he was finished. Since it is not possible for him to speak or hear Mandarin, I hope that he gives it another go - and he did. But, Kisha and Jen got the make up done first and went to get dressed.

Tammy and Victor got the orders right on the second try and waited for the orders to cook.

Jamie and Cara continued to have language difficulties. They were singing to the cab driver to get their destination across to him, and he brought them to the wrong opera house.

Tammy and Victor headed to the next stop, which was a U-Turn. It was not a blind one this time, and if someone is U-Turned, they have to do the other task. And ouch - Tammy and Victor U-Turned Jen and Kisha.

The teams (not U-turned) headed to a street market where they would find their next clue.

Margie and Luke headed out next. Meanwhile, Tammy and Victor got to the Roadblock. One person must eat a plate full of "crispy critters." Scorpions, starfish, grasshoppers, and beetle larvae. Fried. Victor was not happy, but chowed down. He didn't enjoy it, but he was very cheerful.

Kisha and Jen, meanwhile, wandered around the streets for a good long time looking for the next place. Margie and Luke were also looking in vain, but at least they didn't have a U-turn to look forward to.

And Cara and Jamie still had lots of troubles finding a taxi to take them to the right opera house, spewing a lot of hatred for China and the absense of empty cabs in the process. They finally found the opera house and did well with the makeup, and went out on the street looking for the U-Turn.

Margie and Luke got help and found the next clue, pleased that Kisha and Jen were U-turned.

After the Roadblock, it was Pit Stop time, and the pit stop was the Bird's Nest from the Olympics. Tammy and Victor arrived first, easily. They won a trip for 2 to the Galapagos Islands, with a trained naturalist as their guide. Amazing. I'd love a trip like that.

Margie went to eat, and seemed to do a good job. She didn't enjoy it, but she did it.

Jen and Kisha finally found the U-Turn and wentto the restaurant, still in Opera Dress. Their attempts are writing Mandarin phonetically resulted in such orders as "Monthly Use Taiwanese Chicken" instead of fried chicken, and "Good Western Heads Lack Fish" instead of Vegetarian noodles. Not so much. New taste Beef became "Oil Comes Again the Please the Mouth." Good Luck Fish became "Good Doll Basket Drum." Golden Pork Spareribs became "Light Competition Red Dishes I've Played Before." Frustrating, but hilarious. They finally got it right.

Cara and Jamie were completely annoyed because they just couldn't find the right place, and spent 3 hours looking. I can't blame them for being frustrated. They finally went to the opera hosue again, which was where the clue was, and then they found the next clue.

Kisha and Jen finished the second Detour before Jamie and Cara found the U-turn clue. ouch. Jen decided to eat the fried critters. While she was still eating, Cara and Jamie showed up and Cara decided to eat, and she ate fast. Jen was throwing up, and Cara was knocking it back like it was delicious. Jen was drinkig a ton of water, too, and had to pee, but finished up. Cara chewed her heart out, and Kisha and Jen were looking for a taxi, and it seemed close, but of course it always looks close. It seems to be down to taxi driver ability and running. Finally, Cara and Jamie seemed to get an awesome taxi driver.

Jen stopped to pee before going to the Pit Stop. That could kill them. It was a foot race to try to find Phil.

Jamie and Cara got the the mat third, and it was the pee stop that knocked Kisha and Jen out. She'll be regretting that pee for the rest of her life.

Next week, it's the Final 3, the season Finale. Jamie and Cara look to be pissing people off with their attitude, and there is a lot of running. Can't wait to see it!

I'm rooting for Margie and Luke. And you?

Margie and Luke got the the pit stop second.