Jan 7 2008
'The Land of Sushi'
Teams were instructed to fly to Osaka, Japan, which Ronald, racing with daughter Christina, deemed the 'land of sushi.'.
The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem
Jennifer (racing with her cheating boyfriend Nathan) and Ronald both displayed an understanding of their faults. Jennifer explained that she and Nathan tended to argue too much, and saying they were going to stop is one thing but the real problem was 'doing what we say we're actually going to do.' Meanwhile, Ronald expressed again his desire to change in order to improve his relationship with his daughter, citing that he can be too 'explosive' and he admitted that it's 'not right.' On this leg of the race, however, only one of them makes a concerted effort to change for the better. Which one? Keep reading!
Flight Patterns
TK/Rachel (dating couple) book a flight that has two connections - one in New Delhi and one in Beijing, while the other teams take the flight with a single connection through Hong Kong. For the rest of the race, the 'pack' wondered where TK/Rachel were, and vice versa, with no one really sure whether TK/Rachel were ahead of the 'pack' or behind them.
'He's Like My Bitch'
That's what Don jokingly said about his racing partner and grandson, Nicolas, who really stepped up on this leg, as Don started to show some serious strain from the race.
Quite a Ride
The Roadblock required a racer to drive a taxi cab through Osaka's confusing and congested streets. They had to transport real passengers to a real destination, which like all the signs in Osaka, was in Japanese, with no concurrent English translation. We must say, as much as we sympathized with the racers who had to struggle not only with driving a foreign car (complete with steering wheel on the right hand side) and Osaka's maze of one-way streets, we especially sympathized with the passengers who had to endure riding in a taxi driven by foreigners who didn't know where they were going, couldn't read the signs, and at times, didn't seem to know how to operate the car.
Getting There Is Only Half the Battle
Nicolas successfully managed to deliver his passengers to the required destination (post office building) but then ran into significant problems returning to the train station where the Roadblock began, which put him and Donald further behind in the race.
Sensory Detour
The Detour required teams to either play a soccer game with small robots controlled by cell phones (requiring a deft touch), or to pick out a real flower hidden among hundreds of artificial flowers, using only their nose (requiring a good sense of smell). Both tasks looked pretty difficult and took some time, but all the teams completed it without too much trouble, although Jennifer remarked that sniffing around all those fake flowers made her hallucinate that she was in a 'Pink Floyd music video' at one point.
Moment that Made Us Go 'Awwww'
Donald explained that he kept pushing himself on the race because he didn't want to let Nicolas down. Nicolas countered by saying he didn't want to let himself down, and he would do that if he didn't help out his grandfather.
Denied Again!
Nathan/Jennifer were in first place for much of the leg, and they were practically giddy at the prospect of finally finishing a leg first. But their mini-victory was denied to them again as Ronald/Christina managed to edge them out on the taxi ride to the pit stop. For finishing first, Ronald/Christina each won an electric vehicle.
Improving Worlds
Christina noted that Ronald actually managed to go an entire leg without losing his temper or yelling at her, and we must give him some kudos for actually backing up his words of wanting to change with real action. As Christina told Phil at the Pit Stop, her father was 'improving worlds' and it was certainly making a difference in the race, and in their relationship.
Good Idea, Bad Explanation
Not surprisingly, Nathan/Jennifer were disappointed at being denied a first place finish on a leg, but Nathan managed to convey what we've been saying all along - albeit inarticulately. He declared that what mattered was they would finish 'last!' When Jennifer expressed shock at this, he clarified, 'I mean we're going to come in first on the last leg.'
One Costly Mistake
In this race, sometimes all it takes is one mistake to take you out of it, as TK/Rachel discovered. It turned out that the flight they booked was a bad one, putting them hours behind the 'pack.' In fact, they don't even land in Osaka until most of the teams had already completed their Roadblock task. But TK/Rachel pushed onward with a surprisingly cheerful disposition. Their good attitude was rewarded at the Pit Stop when Phil informed them that this was the last non-elimination leg of the race.
Team Underdog
TK/Rachel have a tough road ahead of them, being more than 3 hours behind the third place team (Donald/Nicolas) and they must also complete a 'bonus' task - the Speed Bump on the next leg, which could potentially cost them even more time. Tough, but not insurmountable, odds - especially in this race where anything can, and does, happen!
