TAR15, Recap Leg 3, 10/4/09

Welcome to Leg 3! Last time, on Zev the Duck Whisperer, teams raced from Tokyo to Cai Bei, Vietnam, where teams had to fight a monsoon, haul mud, and chase ducks around (Toyouke: “Hee, I don't remember Matt chanting at his ducks.”). But after all that fun, Garrett and Jessica, the hot engineer and the fiery Colombian, were removed from contention. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)


Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Gary/Matt, Pinky and the Brain
2nd – Flight Time/Big Easy, The Globetrotters
3rd – Sam/Dan, The Hot Boys
4th – Lance/Keri, Team Street Lawyer
5th – Zev/Justin, Team Aspergers
6th – Meghan/Cheyne, The Preschool Sweethearts
7th – Maria/Tiffany, Team Poker
8th – Mika/Canaan, Team Bathtub
9th – Marcy/Ron, The Oldsters
10th – Brian/Ericka, Yin-Yang

Bassac III Riverboat, Cai Bei / My Tho, Vietnam

5:45 AM Gary/Matt (1st)
Clue: The Bassac III has floated down the Mekong Delta (Toyouke: “Moving Pit Stop!”) to an unknown destination (My Tho). Depart the riverboat and take a taxi back to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! Once there, find the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater and grab your next clue from the mouth of one of the Dragon Water Puppets.

5:55 AM Sam /Dan (2nd) – Sam speaks about how Dan gets impatient while they wait for a taxi. (Kmanpat: “Oh great, it’s a hot whiny gay. I hate those.”)

5:56 AM Flight Time/Big Easy (3rd) – Big Easy talks about how he lost his dad two days before they started the race. That’s rough.

5:57 AM Lance/Keri (4th) – Lance: “We’re lions, and everyone else are gazelles, and we’re going to tear them apart.” (Toyouke: “Gazelles and zebras can run for long distances while lions only go in bursts and then must stop. So if you're lions, then somewhere about leg 8 you'll drop out.” Kmanpat: “I was hoping more for leg 2, but as soon as possible works too.”) Keri: “We’re in Ho Chi Minh City!” (cue Gongs of Stupidity) (Toyouke: “Was Keri the one that mispronounced "Ho Chi Minh" before?” Kmanpat: “Yes.” Toyouke: “No wonder you think Lance is smaht. Well, I guess technically since they were moving overnight they don't know where they are. But still.”)
6:04 AM Zev/Justin (5th)
6:10 AM Meghan/Cheyne (6th)
6:11 AM Maria/Tiffany (7th)
6:14 AM Mika/Canaan (8th)
6:15 AM Marcy/Ron (9th) – Marcy talks about how her father was shot down in Vietnam and saved.
6:29 AM Brian/Ericka (10th)

Teams get taxis in the following order:

1- Gary/Matt
2- Flight Time/Big Easy
3- Zev/Justin
4- Meghan/Cheyne
5- Maria/Tiffany
6- Sam/Dan
7- Lance/Keri
8- Marcy/Ron
9- Mika/Canaan
10- Brian/Ericka


Teams fight traffic and enjoy culture.

So, teams arrive in Ho Chi Minh City and make their way to the water puppet theater in the following order:

1- Flight Time/Big Easy
2- Gary/Matt
3- Zev/Justin
4- Meghan/Cheyne
5- Sam/Dan – who arrive at the same time as. . .
6- Maria/Tiffany –and. . .
7- Marcy/Ron – and. . .
8- Lance/Keri – who can’t seem to figure out how to open a bullet and find a clue.
9- Mika/Canaan – Canaan dances to entice the dragon. (Kamnpat: “Are those the dances at the extravagant, elegant soirees, which were the gayest the Bible has seen?” Toyouke: “I was thinking more mating dance, actually. It’s not working on her, Canaan, come dance for me.”)
10- Brian/Ericka

Teams find the clue in the mouths of the dragons, which is concealed in a bullet. Most of the teams open the bullet to find their next clue: a postage stamp with the Ho Chi Minh Post Office on the front, which is the location of their next clue. (Toyouke: “Real clue clue! I wonder if those locals stood around outside the theater all day to tell teams they needed to go to the post office.”)
So teams arrive at the post office in the following order:

1- Flight Time/Big Easy
2- Zev/Justin
3- Gary/Matt
4- Meghan/Cheyne
5- Marcy/Ron
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Sam/Dan
8- Mika/Canaan
9- Brian/Ericka
10- Lance/Keri - who can’t seem to find the clue box.

And we FINALLY get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Child’s Play OR Word Play
*Child’s Play: Teams must go to a nearby park and choose a concrete animal to place on a dolly. Teams must then wheel the animal through the park, collecting five balloons, one each from five vendors. Once complete, teams deliver their animal to a playground, park it in an available stall, and deliver the balloons to the proctor, who will give them their next clue.
*Word Play: Teams must travel to a nearby hotel and go to the observation deck where they watch a roundabout where vehicles with six Vietnamese letters are circling. Once they identify each of the six letters correctly, they head down to the street to determine what word is spelled with the six letters (ĐỘCLẬP). Once they know what the word is, they tell the bellman, who will give them their next clue.


(Toyouke: “Wow. This Detour is...I don't know how to describe it. Collecting animals and balloons to go to a playground where everyone is suspiciously dressed in traditional clothing? Or watch a roundabout for letters and hope locals help you? There's no good answer, unless you don't want to do the physical labor.”)

1-Flight Time/Big Easy choose Child’s Play – “Here, sheepee, sheepee.”
2-Meghan/Cheyne choose Child’s Play
3-Marcy/Ron choose Word Play – whose slowness astounds me. Marcy: “I got an O with a hat and a dot!" They figure out the letters fairly quickly, but they didn’t figure out to ask someone about the correct spelling until a lot of time had passed. I feel like this should have been easier than they made it.
4-Maria/Tiffany choose Child’s Play – whose dolly broke, and Dan tried to help them fix it. Mr. Impatient helping other teams, tsk, tsk. Tiffany then pines about not having a man on her team. (Toyouke: “It would have been EASIER if your PARTNER had done anything but hold balloons. Shut up about not having a man.”)
5-Sam/Dan choose Child’s Play
6-Gary/Matt choose Child’s Play
7-Zev/Justin choose Child’s Play – who broke their giraffe, but the clue specifies that they only need to get all the pieces to the proctor, so they are ok.
8-Lance/Keri choose Child’s Play –who can’t seem to navigate through a park. And Lance loses a red balloon. (Kmanpat: “Ballon! Ballon!” Auburnium513: “Hee.”)
9-Brian/Ericka choose Child’s Play – who choose the zebra. (Toyouke: “Oh, ha ha, the zebra works for you. Shush.”)
10-Mika/Canaan choose Child’s Play

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Flight Time/Big Easy
2- Meghan/Cheyne
3- Gary/Matt
4- Sam/Dan
5- Brian/Ericka
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Zev/Justin
8- Lance/Keri
9- Mika/Canaan
10- Marcy/Ron

Teams are then instructed to travel to Điện Cờ 008 at the intersection of Đứờng Vinh Viẽn and Đứờng Ly Thứờng Kiệt. Apologies to the Vietnamese for my spelling. Teams arrive at the clue box in the following order:

1- Flight Time/Big Easy
2- Meghan/Cheyne – Cheyne: “You taste deliciously sweaty!” (Kmanpat: “You probably do too.” Toyouke: *sigh*)
3- Gary/Matt
4- Brian/Ericka
5- Sam/Dan
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Zev/Justin
8- Mika/Canaan
9- Lance/Keri – who get lost at the intersection trying to find the shop. Please tell me they get eliminated for this.
10- Marcy/Ron

And teams come to the third roadblock.

ROADBLOCK:
Who’s ready for a complete breakdown?
In this roadblock, one team member must break down two VCRs and toss the parts into piles using the provided tools. Once completed, teams get their next clue.

(Toyouke: “I like this Roadblock more now that I know you can't just smash stuff with a hammer.”)

The following team members complete the Roadblock.

1- Flight Time
2- Cheyne
3- Matt
4- Brian
5- Sam – Dan: "Sam, just screw whatever you can!" Sam: "I am Dan! Shut up!" Hee. (Toyouke: “Why wasn't THAT the title quote?”)
6- Tiffany – “These are bad ass power tools!”
7- Justin
8- Canaan – Mika: “Take all the parts out!” (Kmanpat: “Yes, Canaan, please do.” Toyouke: “Will you stop that!?!?”)
9- Lance – who pretty much tears the thing apart with his hands. (Kmanpat: “Lance SMASH!” Toyouke: “How are they going to recycle that if you've bent it up like a moron? I think he should have had to start over.”)
10- Ron

After much taking apart of VCRs, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Flight Time/Big Easy
2- Meghan/Cheyne
3- Gary/Matt
4- Sam/Dan
5- Brian/Ericka
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Mika/Canaan
8- Lance/Keri – who are hoping for a miracle. (Toyouke: “I would hope for a miracle but it would be for you to go away so you probably don't want me to hope for that.”)
9- Zev/Justin
10- Marcy/Ron

Teams get their clue and find that they must now travel to the Reunification Palace and the PIT STOP of the third leg of this racearoundtheworld. The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

1- Flight Time/Big Easy – who win a trip for 2 to Aruba. Fun! (Toyouke: “That would have been a dramatic footrace if I didn't know the Globetrotters would kick ass. I mean, based on the length of their legs alone.”)
2- Meghan/Cheyne
3- Gary/Matt
4- Brian/Ericka
5- Sam/Dan
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Mika/Canaan
8- Zev/Justin
9- Lance/Keri – Phil: “So, I guess the gazelle and the antelope beat the lion to the finish.” Oooh, burn. Lance somehow thinks he'll still win. (Toyouke: “Ha! Lions will tire before gazelles! You know nothing!”)
10- Marcy/Ron

And Marcy and Ron leave graciously. Sad times. They were fun.

ORDER NOW:
1st – Flight Time/Big Easy
2nd – Meghan/Cheyne
3rd – Gary/Matt
4th – Brian/Ericka
5th – Sam/Dan
6th – Maria/Tiffany
7th – Mika/Canaan
8th – Zev/Justin
9th – Lance/Keri

Next week: Teams are off to Cambodia. Weren’t we just there? Zev turns into a monkey. And one team makes a deadly mistake – they lose their passports! Wait, haven’t we had enough seasons of this at this point that people would not lose their passports? I mean, really. Until next time!