While I had been given a tip that Macau would be on the race, it was
Anthonyctf who
brought us the spoiler that teams had been spotted in the Macau Tower, only one week after the filming took place!
And with that information, we were off and running! TARA 3 seemed to be following a bit in the TAR AllStars footsteps, so there was lots of info and some maps available.
Thanks to
Neobie for our
first look at the screen caps, and then to
banzai for the previews!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k3oE63b6gxK73MO1rR&related=1Michael McKay had this to say:
This week we return to being tough on the Teams and I'm afraid that's how it will stay until the end of the season. No more Mr. Nice Guy
As you may have gathered from the promo Mother Nature will play a hand in this week's Leg of the Race and there is some genuine nastiness between at least a couple of the Teams. It's not all drama though with a very funny scene centering around a blackjack table. Enjoy.
And the AXN newsletter gave us this:
So teams would depart from Stanley Pier, and thanks to
banzai's sharp eyes again, and a greeter's wristwatch
we had a pretty good idea of when:
(courtesy of banzai)
Check out her watch.
Sunrise is 5:39AM in Hong Kong.
Sam & Vince: checked in @ 5:50PM; release @ 5:50AM.
Sunset is 7:02PM.
Bernie & Henry: checked in @ 7:05PM; release @ 7:05AM.
Geoff & Tisha: checked in @ 7:15PM; release @ 7:15AM.
A.D. & Fuzzie: checked in @ 7:35PM; release @ 7:35AM.
Ida & Tania: checked in @ 7:46PM; release @ 7:46AM.
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But is there a task between Stanley and the trip to Macau?
We don't know, but wouldn't I love it if they had to collect a clue on the Peak!
With teams leaving the Pitstop at the crack of dawn, and not being seen in Macau till mid-afternoon, there would seem to be plenty of time for another HK task.
Teams were next seen running in HK towards the Shun Tak Centre,
site identified thanks to
sun7kid!
Neobie further added:
It's the corner of Des Voeux Rd Central and Hiller St, facing North towards Shun Tak.
But why are they RUNNING there from a block away when taxis go straight towards Shun Tak? (Refer to TAR11.) From where they are they'd need to go down to the MTR tunnel or go up an overhead bridge to get to the ferry terminal, across from Connaught Rd W.
Are they coming from another "get a clue" task??
Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal :
There are two terminals in HongKong. The main sea terminal and heliport are located in Shun Tak Centre, on the waterfront West of Central District on Hong Kong Island. It stands over the Sheung Wan station of the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) and adjoins a terminal for public buses and minibuses from many parts of Hong Kong, including the A2 Airbus from the airport.
Shun Tak terminal has passenger wharves and helipad, ticketing offices for current and advance sailings and flights, reservation offices of Macau Hotels and travel agents, the Macau Government Tourist Office representative office and information counter.
http://www.olamacauguide.com/macau-ferry.htmlWith the site identified as the Shun Tak Centre, we now knew that teams would be travelling to Macau by Hovercraft/Hydrofoil.
While there are several companies running,
Turbojet is a popular one as an example:
They leave Hong Kong from Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, Sheung Wan as expected! Trip takes 55 minutes.
They dock at the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal.
And are probably told to take a pedicab to the Macau Tower.
Pedicabs
A pedicab - a tricycle carriage with seating for two passengers, also known as a trishaw - is a slower but more romantic form of transport. Pedicabs are propelled by bicycles with several gears and are not at all the same as the rickshaw.
The Ferry Terminal and Hotel Lisboa are their two main pick up locations. It's good advice to settle on an agreed fare first. One should expect to pay about 10-30 patacas for a single journey, or about 100 patacas an hour for sightseeing, depending on where you go.
And on to the Roadblock at the
Macau Tower!
Banzai spotted the red clue:
(courtesy of banzai)
ROADBLOCK @ the Macau Tower.
Henry
You can see a red clue in the lower right corner.
Tisha
Sam
A.D.
It's Bernie, Geoff, Vince, and Fuzzie turn to do the Roadblock. Henry, Tisha, Sam, and A.D. are waiting for their teammates.
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There is a puzzling exchange in the video where Sam is laughing and Henry says "scum" and Tisha looks enigmatic.
This exchange has suggested that perhaps there is a YIELD (or even an U-Turn) here.
Do Sam/Vince yield Henry/Bernie? Has Geoff/Trisha yielded them?
All is speculation but my guess would go with Sam/Vince yielding Henry/Bernie, solely based on that one exchange.
Now, what exactly is
the Roadblock?
Popular adventures there include the Skywalk (circling the Tower on a platform outside, dressed in orange.), Bungy jumping (dressed in a blue jumpsuit), and the SkyJump on a controlled descent wire thing,
Also available is the Mast Climb (dressed in orange +helmet).
Conquer Macau's highest summit, at 338 meters, and stand at the top of the world's 10th tallest free-standing tower by climbing 100 meters up the mast's vertical ladders. The ascent and descent takes approximately 2 hours and is not for the unfit or faint-hearted. Maximum height exposure and best views of Macau guaranteed.
Macau Tower is the One and Only free-standing tower in the world that takes people of the public to its very top. Advanced booking for this experience of a lifetime is highly recommended.
We see Fuzzie looking up dressed in orange and with a helmet on:
Teams are clearly waiting just outside the entrance to the Bungy and SkyJump, although I believe the mast climb also starts here:
Now of ALL of those choices, ONLY the Mast Climb requires a helmet. Do I think they are going to do a 2 hour climb? No. But a modified/partial climb of some sort? Yes. Another reason for thinking this besides the helmet is that the team partners are waiting on that level, not down at the ground where either the SkyJump or the Bungy would end up. So the task would seem to be perhaps the SkyWalk, and/or some partial Mast Climb, both of which would return the teammate to their partner on the 58th floor where they are waiting.
Does the thunderstorm delay AD/Fuzzy? My guess is yes. But remember that at this point, we do not know if Ida/Tania are behind them or not. But whichever team(s) are delayed by the storm are at a huge disadvantage already.
Detours!We see AD/Fuzzy and Ida/Tania dressing fit to kill and playing Blackjack in a Casino. The Axn newsletter also shows Sam/Vince in dinner jackets, so we can assume that they do this task as well.
(courtesy of banzai)
DETOUR 1 Play blackjack in a casino.
A.D. & Fuzzie and Ida & Tania chose this task.
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We then see Geoff and I guess Tisha under there?
doing a Lion Dance at the Macau Maritime Museum.
DETOUR 2 Lion Dance @ the Maritime Museum.
Geoff & Tisha chose this task.
So we don't know what Henry and Bernie will choose.
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But we do know, thanks to
Neobie that the PITSTOP is at the A-Ma Cultural Village, on Coloane.
A-Ma Cultural Village
Close to the world's tallest statue of the goddess A-Ma (also known as Tian Hou), which stands on a 170-metre high peak on a mountaintop on Macau's Coloane Island, a 7,000-square meter cultural complex celebrates the beloved deity's legend.
The development of the A-Ma Cultural Village was started during the Chung Yeung festival in 2001 shortly after the A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival of Macau. Today, construction of the Qing Dynasty-style complex is nearly finished. Surely the village, which comprises a bell tower, drum tower, carved marble altar in the Tian-Hou Palace, a dressing hall, museum and shops will attract many A-Ma devotees and interested tourists, especially those from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Fujian Province, where the goddess A-Ma is believed to have been born more than 1,000 years ago. Visitors approach the village by six rows of stairs carved with auspicious Chinese patterns like of the roaring tiger, the double lion, the five cranes and double phoenix that lead to the Tian Hou Palace. Plans for the future include a vegetarian restaurant and more Macanese and Taiwanese snack stalls, folk handicrafts and souvenir shops and other tourist facilities.
But there is a lot more for tourists to see when they visit the Coloane site. The village is surrounded by a park, and is reached by the Estrada do Alto de Coloane which begins just south of Seac Pai Van Park. The road leads first to the parking area for the newly-developed Recreational Fishing Zone, the Arboretum (which features more than 100 species of local and exotic trees), and the main access to the Coloane Hiking Trail. It continues on to the top of the Peak where there is another car park, the new Alto de Coloane picnic area, and the statue of the Goddess A-Ma. Visible from far out in the South China Sea, the statue crowns Coloane Peak. A-Ma is venerated by fishermen and sailors and therefore has always had a special significance in Macau.
The goddess A-Ma has long been revered in Macau as the protector of people who make their living on the sea. A well-known local legend tells of the goddess saving the occupants of a ship during a fierce storm, and ascending afterward into heaven near the site of the historic A-Ma temple, a local landmark believed to have been built during the Ming Dynasty.
There are an estimated 200 million devotees of the goddess worldwide, concentrated in places like South East Asia, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong but found even as far away as Europe and the Americas, making them followers of one of the world's most widespread religions.
Opening hours of Tian Hou Palace: 08:00 to 18:00 daily.
There is shuttle bus service between the Façade at Estrada de Seac Pai Van and Tian Hau Palace in every 30 minutes:
Source: Macau Travel Talk (Feb 2004) For thse of you who can read Chinese, here is the
website of the A-Ma Cultural Village.
One problem?? The shuttle buses stop running UP to the Temple at 5 and Down from the Temple at 6.... Will some teams be shut out till morning?
(courtesy of banzai)
PITSTOP: A-Ma temple, Macau, China
Geoff & Tisha checked in at sunset.
He still wears the Lion Dance outfit.So who is ahead?
Well we know (spoiler bars)
from a team sighting in Singapore airport that Geoff and Tisha have a 2 hour lead on the next team on the way to Cochin, India. We also know that Sam/Vince still have a cat task and a swimming task to do.
It would appear that even if Henry/Bernie are Yielded here, that the Elim may come down to I/T vs AD/Fuzzy. (my two favorite teams...)So what will we see? Will we be close in our speculation? Stay tuned!!