"Survivor with Food" is not the show I was promised.

I had planned to write about "Around the World in 80 Plates", but after watching the first episode, there wasn't enough food. Clearly they're going to spend a bunch of time talking about whatever team drama, and how well people are copying other chefs in making regional food. I'll keep watching, but unless there's a big outcry, I'm not going to recap it. However, depending on the scheduling I am thinking about putting "Hell's Kitchen" back on the recap roster. At least they don't pretend to be anything but manipulative and pointless. Leave your thoughts in the comments if you have a strong opinion, and thanks for reading for so long.

I lied, I have a few thoughts:
-Jenna is super bossy. I'm going to be tired of her.
-How hilarious was the cheesemaker guy? He really got into it.
-I'm glad someone shut Keven up about the wine, but I just wish it hadn't been Nookie.
-I love that last week Chaz won just because he claimed to have the idea to make dessert, but this week he can't handle Avery winning for actually cooking the dish that got them the win.
-I wish Sai had made it to Asia. I'm not sure why they didn't get rid of Jenna when they had the chance. Also, the gloating is really obnoxious. Clicky clicky

Around the World in 80 Plates 5/9/12--"London Calling" summary

Can Bravo successfully combine “Top Chef” and “Amazing Race”? Let’s hope so. Because that’s what everyone is expecting. (click for more)

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TAR20, Recap Leg 12, 5/6/12

Welcome to Leg 12! Last time, on Bring That Chicken Home! teams raced across Asia from India to Japan. There were Japanese game shows and Sushi Bingo. And Vanessa and Ralph were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Rachel/Dave , Team Free Ron Again!
2nd – Art/JJ, Team Patrulla Fronteriza
3rd – Brendon/Rachel, Team Sparkles

Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan

4:15 PM Rachel/Dave (1st)
Clue: Fly to your final destination city: Honolulu, Hawaii! Once there, find Mauka and Makai, the Twin Towers.

4:47 PM Art/JJ (2nd)
5:05 PM Brendon/Rachel (3rd)

Teams arrive at the airport in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

There’s only one flight, so all teams get on it and take the Amazing Red Line to Honolulu. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams actually have to figure out that Mauka and Makai are buildings, and Art and JJ seem to fail at this (Toyouke: “Well, you should figure out where you're going. Also, karma for bitching so much about Brendon and Rachel following you.”), so teams arrive at the towers in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Art/JJ

Once teams arrive, they discover that they must use ascenders to climb to the top of the forty-five story tower and then spot their destination from above. Once they know where they are going, teams must do a face forward rappel to get down. Teams complete the tasks in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Art/JJ

Teams are now making their way to their next destination, Sand Island. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Art/JJ

We then get the eleventh roadblock clue.

ROADBLOCK:

Who wants to shave ice?

In this roadblock, one team member must shave ice with a samurai sword and fill a bucket to a
specified line. Once complete, Hawaiian Actor Taylor Wily will give teams their next clue.

(Toyouke: “Shave ice? WTF final Roadblock is that!?”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Dave
2- Brendon
3- JJ
After much ice shaving, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Art/JJ

Teams are now instructed to travel by foot to the outfield and find the helicopters that will take them to their next clue. Teams arrive at the helicopters in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel – who think they have to go to Aloha Stadium by taxi. I don’t know. (Toyouke: “ON FOOT. It is the LAST leg! Out of these three teams, that is the one that I would have expected to fuck that up.”)

Teams take their helicopters up the North Shore and arrive at their next clue in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ – (Toyouke: “I will grudgingly give a "woo" for the Magnum P.I. reference.”)
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams are now instructed to perform a rescue mission. One team member drive a waverunner, while the other team member rides a board behind the waverunner to rescue someone from the ocean. Once the team returns with the person they rescued, they will get their next clue. Teams rescue survivors in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams are now instructed to make their way to the Coral Kingdom Gate of Hakipu’u Valley and follow the marked path to their clue. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Rachel/Dave – who, even though Hawaii is not a very big place, seem to make their way to the task at the END of the Coral Kingdom task, complete it, find the FINISH LINE, and Phil, and end up being told that they are not done, and have to backtrack to the task. Suspenseful no? (Toyouke: “They just put that there? No monitors or safety people? Written explanations that don't require any additional information? DESIGNED for a fuck-up just like this. OK, this HAS to go on the list of "Most Exciting Pit Stops Ever."  Especially because it's more exciting when everyone is all together like this.”)
3- Brendon/Rachel
We then get the twelfth roadblock clue.

ROADBLOCK:

Who wants to take a Papa Holua to an ‘Ulu Maika’?

In this roadblock, the team member that didn’t do the first Roadblock in the leg must slide 150 feet downhill on a Holua sled and then use an Ulu Maika to roll it fifty feet into a goal. Once complete, teams get their next clue.

(Toyouke: “This is a strange task. Where is my memory task?”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock, because they have to:

1- Art
2- Rachel B.
3- Rachel R.

After much sledding and throwing, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams now make their way to the Paddleboard dock via the provided ATVs. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams must now paddleboard across a lake without falling over. Teams complete the task in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Teams find now that they must travel to Secret Island, the FINISH LINE of The Amazing Race 20. The first team to arrive will be the winner!

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel

Rachel and Dave, five continents, nine countries, 22 cities, 36000 miles, you are the winners of the Amazing Race 20, and holders of the new record for most legs won in a single race! Woo.

ORDER NOW:
1st – Rachel/Dave
2nd – Art/JJ
3rd – Brendon/Rachel
4th – Vanessa/Ralph
5th – Bopper/Mark
6th – Nary/Jamie
7th – Joey “Fitness”/Danny
8th – Kerri/Stacy
9th – Elliot/Andrew
10th – Dave/Cherie
11th – Misa/Maiya

Next time: TAR 21! See you then!


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TAR20, Recap Leg 11, 5/6/12

Welcome to Leg 11! Last time, on I Paid $500 For These Extentions and You Want Me To Shave My Head?, teams raced through India. (Toyouke: “Previously, the stupid Big Brother team lasted longer than we thought, proving someone somewhere is laughing their ass off at our suffering.”) Team Kentucky couldn’t recover from their previous leg and were eliminated. Who will be eliminated. . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Rachel/Dave , Team Free Ron Again!
2nd – Brendon/Rachel, Team Sparkles
3rd – Vanessa/Ralph, The Dating Divorcees
4th – Art/JJ, Team Patrulla Fronteriza

Cheena Vala Fishing Nets, Vypin, India

1:51 PM Rachel/Dave (1st)
Clue: Fly 4000 miles to Hiroshima, Japan! Once there, make your way to Miyajima Island.

Dave: “We’re here to improve our relationship.” (Toyouke: “HAHAHA Dave, you are so full of shit. If your relationship was so important you wouldn't be such an asshat.”)

Brendon/Rachel (2nd)
Vanessa/Ralph (3rd)
Art/JJ (4th)
Teams make their way to a travel agent, where they find that the best flight is an 8:10 pm arrival in Hiroshima. So, all the teams make their way to the airport to jump on the Amazing Red Line to Hiroshima. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Vanessa/Ralph
3- Rachel/Dave
4- Brendon/Rachel

Teams get on a bus into town, but Brendon and Rachel miss the first bus. So, teams arrive at the subway station in the following order:

1- Brendon/Rachel
2- Vanessa/Ralph
3- Art/JJ
4- Rachel/Dave

Now it’s Rachel and Dave that miss the transport. (Toyouke: “This is a lot of different transportation methods all in a row.“) Teams arrive at the Miyajima Ferry Terminal in the following order:

1- Brendon/Rachel
2- Art/JJ
3- Vanessa/Ralph
4- Rachel/Dave

And Rachel and Dave miss the last ferry of the night. (Toyouke: “It's the last one of the day? And they let Dave and Rachel miss it? Wow. I can't believe they would let that happen.”) However, when they other teams arrive at Itsukushima Shrine, they find that they won’t get their clue until morning. (Toyouke: “Do you think that was the plan all along? Or maybe some PA whipped up a sign real quick?”) So, Rachel and Dave catch up. The sun rises, and teams get their next clue in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Art/JJ
4- Vanessa/Ralph

Teams are now instructed to travel back to Hiroshima and find Peace Memorial Park to find the Atom Bomb Dome. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Vanessa/Ralph
2- Rachel/Dave
3- Brendon/Rachel
4- Art/JJ

After the heartfelt reflection, teams are instructed to make their way to Osaka by Bullet Train and find the TV 8 Studio. Once there, teams would get their next clue. Teams all get on the same train and arrive in Osaka in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Vanessa/Ralph
3- Rachel/Dave
4- Brendon/Rachel

Teams now travel to the TV 8 Studio and get their clue in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Vanessa/Ralph
3- Brendon/Rachel
4- Rachel/Dave

We then get the tenth roadblock clue.

ROADBLOCK:

Who wants to bring home the chicken?

In this roadblock, one team member must compete in a Japanese Game Show called “Bring That Chicken Home!” They must run on a conveyor belt and jump to get three rubber chickens and make their way to the finish line to get their clue from the host. Brendon and Vanessa must complete the task, if they attempt it.

(Toyouke: “Is that the same guy from Wasabi Roll?”)

The following teammates take the Roadblock:

1- Art
2- Vanessa – who is hurting pretty bad from her ankle roll in India. Ralph: “Just take the penalty!” (Toyouke: “Aww, Ralph. That's why I am rooting for them. Because you know Dave's asshole self would be yelling at Rachel that she was a fuck-up.”)
3- Brendon
4- Rachel B.

(Toyouke: “So rather than have people have a maximum number of Roadblocks, it looks like they changed the rules so you have to keep even throughout.”) After much running, jumping and chicken grabbing, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Brendon/Rachel
3- Rachel/Dave
4- Vanessa/Ralph

Teams now make their way to the Umeda Sky Building and travel to the top in order to make their Detour choice. Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Art/JJ
2- Rachel/Dave
3- Brendon/Rachel
4- Vanessa/Ralph

And we get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Bingo Shoutout OR Photo Cutout
*Bingo Shoutout: Teams must travel to a sushi restaurant, where they pick up sushi from a conveyor belt as it is called out by a bingo caller. Once teams have the right sushi with the right letters in a way to get a bingo, they yell “Sushi!” and eat the five pieces that form the bingo to get their next clue.
*Photo Cutout: Teams must pick up to life size sumo cutout and find the photographer to get a camera. Then they must get 10 groups of three people each to get their photos taken behind the cutouts to get their next clue.

1- Art/JJ choose Bingo Shoutout – (Toyouke: “Sushi Bingo is almost as entertaining as the game show.”)
2- Rachel/Dave choose Photo Cutout
3- Brendon/Rachel choose Bingo Shoutout
4- Vanessa/Ralph choose Bingo Shoutout

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Rachel/Dave
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel
4- Vanessa/Ralph

Teams find now that they must travel to Osaka Castle, the PIT STOP of the eleventh leg of this racearoundtheworld. The last team to arrive WILL be eliminated!

(Toyouke: “Points for not having a geisha or samurai greeter.”)

1- Rachel/Dave – who win a trip for two to New Zealand, personally recommended by Phil. Phil: “Just tell me when you're going, so I can not be home.” Oh, and they tied the record for most wins on the Race, set by Nick and Starr in TAR13 and repeated by Meghan and Cheyne in TAR15.
2- Art/JJ
3- Brendon/Rachel
4- Vanessa/Ralph

And Vanessa and Ralph are eliminated. But what a trooper she was!

ORDER NOW:
1st – Rachel/Dave
2nd – Art/JJ
3rd – Brendon/Rachel

Next time: Teams race to Hawaii for a million dollars! See you then!


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