TAR15, Recap Leg 5, 10/18/09

Welcome to Leg 5! Last time, on Cities Named After Celebrities: Sean Penn Cambodia, teams traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh Cambodia, where Zev and Justin went from worst to first and then worst again when they lost Zev’s passport in a temple that they weren’t even supposed to go into. Who will give us sound bites now? And who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

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

Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

12:25 PM Sam/Dan (1st)
Clue: Fly to the Persian Gulf and find the world’s tallest building! (Toyouke: “I hope people try to go to the Petronas Towers. Or somewhere else, where, you know, the building is FINISHED. Except they told them to go to the Persian Gulf. Dang.”) What this means is that teams must fly 3300 miles to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and find the Burj Dubai, soon to be the world’s tallest building. Once in Dubai, teams must find the Dubai Fountain and sign up for one of 2 elevators to the 124th floor for the next clue. You have $160 for this leg of the race.

Sam: “Where is the Persian Gulf?” Sigh, and he was the cuter one too. (Toyouke: “Hee. The hot brothers are not that smart. Cute but stupid.”)

12:27 PM Flight Time/Big Easy (2nd) – they go to an internet café, only to find out that they would have had to get tickets for their flight 24 hours in advance off the internet.
12:30 PM Brian/Ericka (3rd)
12:35 PM Gary/Matt (4th)
12:37 PM Meghan/Cheyne (5th)
12:47 PM Lance/Keri (6th) – Keri: “They’ll never tear us apaht.” I’m going to miss that accent.
12:49 PM Mika/Canaan (7th)
12:55 PM Maria/Tiffany (8th) – and they remark that they are only still here because someone else screwed up. Wow, two saves in one season.

Teams get taxis and travel to Phnom Penh International Airport to arrive in the following order:

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

And all teams get a flight through Bangkok to Dubai. Cue the Amazing Red Line!

So, teams arrive in Dubai and make their way to Dubai Fountain in the following order:

1- Brian/Ericka
2- Maria/Tiffany
3- Mika/Canaan – who get a taxi driver without a clue as to where he is going.
4- Sam/Dan
5- Meghan/Cheyne
6- Lance/Keri
7- Flight Time/Big Easy
8- Gary/Matt

Once teams arrive at the fountain, they sign up for their elevators.

Elevator 1: 5:30 AM
1) Maria/Tiffany
2) Brian/Ericka
3) Sam/Dan
4) Meghan/Cheyne

Elevator 2: 5:45 AM
1) Mika/Canaan – and we find out Mika hates heights, and is afraid of having to bungee off the building. Which, on the Race? A valid fear.
2) Lance/Keri
3) Flight Time/Big Easy
4) Gary/Matt

When the time arrives, teams go up in the elevator and get the clue. Which tells them to do nothing on top of the tower. (Toyouke: “I can't believe they let the teams into what is basically a construction zone. And that was all they had to do? WTF?”) So teams find out that they now need to find a parking deck at the Dubai Mall and get a marked car to drive themselves to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. Once there, teams choose a 4x4 and a driver to take them to the next clue. (Toyouke: “Hey, they learned their lesson about the last time teams drove themselves through the desert!”) Teams read the clue in the following order:

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

And then, behind the clue envelope, we find the FAST FORWARD!

FAST FORWARD:

Recall (if you can, since we see these so rarely anymore) that a fast forward is a task that can be performed to allow one team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly to the pit stop. However, each team may only use their fast forward power once on the race, so they must decide when it is more advantageous to use it. In this, the only fast forward on this race, (Toyouke: “ONLY ONE FAST FORWARD? WTF IS THAT?!?!?!”) teams must travel to the Dubai Autodrome and choose one team member to drive an F-3 open wheel racecar (Toyouke: “Psshh, they should both have to drive the race car.” Kmanpat: “Agreed.”). They must complete a full lap in less than 45 seconds to get their next clue and to skip all remaining tasks and travel directly to the Pit Stop.

Teams decide to go for the Fast Forward in the following order:

1- Meghan/Cheyne – mostly because Cheyne wants to drive a racecar, which I argue is not a good reason to take a Fast Forward. But whatever.

So – autodrome, driving, 40 seconds, and Cheyne has won the Fast Forward for their team. They get their Fast Forward and takes a Maserati to the Pit Stop at the Amphitheater at Souk Madinat Jumehria.

In the meantime, teams arrive at the Desert Reserve in the following order:

1- Brian/Ericka
2- Maria/Tiffany
3- Sam/Dan
4- Flight Time/Big Easy
5- Gary/Matt
6- Mika/Canaan
7- Lance/Keri – who got very lost en route to the desert. (Toyouke: “How did Lance and Keri get so far away from everyone? Not that I am complaining.”)

And teams come to the fifth roadblock.

ROADBLOCK:
Who thinks they can beat the desert heat?
In this roadblock, one team member must go into the desert and find water filled urns buried in the sand. Teams then fill a water bag with the water and take it to a nearby bedouwin and his camel to get their next clue.

(Toyouke: “Holy crap. This Roadblock is like, actually dangerous. Not fake "oh you might fall but you have a safety harness on" dangerous. But "I seriously hope they have paramedics standing by" dangerous.”)

The following team members complete the Roadblock.

1- Brian
2- Tiffany
3- Dan – who waits for Tiffany to scoop water with her ladle so that she can scoop it for him next. (Toyouke: “A better idea would be to use the ladle yourself, and then give it to him while you leave. You're still being nice but you also aren't screwing yourself.”)
4- Matt
5- Big Easy
6- Canaan – this isn’t the first time that the “Canaan wanders through the desert story” has been told. (God, from the tub: “Hey, I love this episode! I haven’t seen it for at least 3000 years!”
7- Lance – who prays to God. (God: “Quiet, you, I’m watching Canaan wander the desert!”)

After much searching for urns with water, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Brian/Ericka
2- Sam/Dan
3- Maria/Tiffany
4- Gary/Matt
5- Flight Time/Big Easy
6- Mika/Canaan
7- Lance/Keri

Teams are instructed to drive themselves to Ski Dubai to get their next clue. Teams depart in the following order:

1- Brian/Ericka
2- Sam/Dan
3- Maria/Tiffany – who get off to a rough start as Tiffany runs over a metal rod that punctures her radiator. And the boys stick around to wait with them. (Toyouke: “THEY'RE OK! THEY'RE JUST BAD DRIVERS! KEEP GOING! GOD people are stupid sometimes. RACE.”)
4- Gary/Matt
5- Flight Time/Big Easy
6- Mika/Canaan
7- Lance/Keri


Teams them arrive at Ski Dubai (Toyouke: “I like the Arabic pseudo "Jingle Bells" music.”) in the following order:

1- Gary/Matt
2- Brian/Ericka
3- Sam/Dan
4- Maria/Tiffany
5- Flight Time/Big Easy
6- Mika/Canaan
7- Lance/Keri

And we get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Build a Snowman OR Find a Snowman
*Build a Snowman: Teams carry snow form the inside to the outside and use the snow and provided materials to build a snowman before the snow melts. Once approved by the proctor, teams get their next clue.
*Find a Snowman: Teams use the chair lift to go to the top of the slope and sled down to a pile of snow and find a snowman buried in the pile. Once teams find a snowman, the take it to the nearby Polar Bear to get their next clue.

1-Gary/Matt choose Find a Snowman – and, in the first Bald Snark of the Season, they eventually switch to Build a Snowman.
2-Brian/Ericka choose Find a Snowman
3-Sam/Dan choose Find a Snowman – who Bald Snark to Build a Snowman.
4-Maria/Tiffany choose Find a Snowman – who Bald Snark to Build a Snowman.
5-Flight Time/Big Easy choose Find a Snowman
6-Mika/Canaan choose Build a Snowman
7-Lance/Keri choose Build a Snowman

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Brian/Ericka
2- Flight Time/Big Easy
3- Gary/Matt
4- Maria/Tiffany
5- Sam/Dan
6- Mika/Canaan
7- Lance/Keri


Teams get their clue and find that they must now travel to the Amphitheater at Souk Madinat Jumehria, the PIT STOP of the fifth leg of this racearoundtheworld. The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

1- Meghan/Cheyne –who win a trip for 2 to Jamaica.
2- Brian/Ericka
3- Flight Time/Big Easy
4- Gary/Matt
5- Sam/Dan
6- Maria/Tiffany
7- Mika/Canaan
8- Lance/Keri

And Lance and Keri are eliminated. Lance: “In the history of all the races, no one has ever done this bad.” Um, Lance, I think that sounds like a challenge to me. (Toyouke: “You mean a Top 10 Worst Race Mistakes and Performances?” Kmanpat: “Yup.”)

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


Next week: Waterslide! Oh, and Mika is still afraid of heights. So Canaan tries to push her down. THAT’S going to go over well. Until next time!