The Amazing Race > Amazing Race 32 Start to Finish!
TAR32 Racing reports, episode #12 is on page #1
maf:
--- Quote from: claude_24hrs on December 08, 2020, 06:28:35 PM ---Maf, the leg in Kazakhstan was on November 25, 2018, not November 24. Leg started in the early morning of November 24.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for checking, I have fixed this.
Also I am sorry that I am two episodes behind at the moment. These are strange times unfortunately.
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 9, "This is not payback, this is karma"
Film date: probably 2018-11-28
The last episode ended at the middle of the mega leg. Four teams had completed the first road block. Eswar & Aparna are still doing it and Kaylynn & Haley are waiting out their yield.
Or at least that is what they want us to believe. The shots from when the siblings leave the road block show that the sisters have not yet reached the yield.
Eventually all teams complete the first road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+3)Riley* & Maddison (3-4)2(+0)DeAngelo & Gary* (4-3)3(-2)Will & James* (4-3)4(+1)Hung & Chee* (3-4)5(-2)Eswar* & Aparna (4-3)6(+0)Kaylynn* & Haley (4-3)
Route info: "Travel by auto rickshaw to Charminar and search for your next clue."
On the way we get to her Will & James talk about there being two alliances. The Mine 5 and then the true alliance which is just them, Hung & Chee and Riley & Maddison.
"We can make up time", Kaylynn & Haley are optimistic
The Charminar is a beautiful monument and there is a market next to it so there are lots of people around. The clue box is located in the middle of the plaza next to the monument and teams reach it in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison
2(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
3(+0) Will & James
4(+0) Hung & Chee
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, seconds after #4
6(+0) Kaylynn & Haley
Detour: "This or that?"
The extra information seem to only give the addresses of the two options (they are both in the market so within walking distance).
At the locations teams find new clue envelopes and the clue therein explains both tasks.
In this teams must push a cart filled with bangles to a nearby store and once there they must search through their cart to find seven bangles matching the ones a bride in the shop is wearing.
In that teams must take a mold of a patient's teeth for a set of dentures. Once that is done they need to finish, clean and polish a new set of dentures. Finally they have to fit these into a patient's mouth.
"This is amazing how difficult it is", Riley at the bangles task
Hung & Chee make their way to 'This' but upon reading the clue they decide to switch to 'That'.
"Let's do that. That's gross and nobody's gonna do that", Hung wants to do the dentures
The dentures task takes place at a marked dentist next to Hotel Nizam. In the extra scenes we learn that there were two locations. This is good because the places were so small so only one team could do each sub task at any one time. Hung & Chee arrived to the first dentist after Eswar & Aparna, they tried to find the other location but failed so they had to wait for the siblings to complete their cast.
The first part of the dental task is harder than expected, you have to get the consistency of the molding clay just right and then be quick in applying it. There is a judge which tells you if the mold you make is good enough.
Hung has no problem with the dental task. They have three kids so she has seen it all.
"[i[Being a parent, kids are so disgusting, and one can't even imagine what kind of disgustingness comes out of their little bodies[/i]", Hung
"So if, like, the patient needed a colonoscopy, I'd do it too.", Hung was prepared to do more if needed
Teams complete this detour in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison, bangles
2(+0) DeAngelo & Gary, bangles
3(+0) Will & James, bangles
4(+1) Eswar & Aparna, dentist
5(-1) Hung & Chee, dentist
6(+0) Kaylynn & Haley, dentist
Route info: "Travel by auto rickshaw to Taj Falaknuma palace and search the grounds for your next clue." It also says that this is the last chance to play your power to yield. Use it or lose it.
The clue box at the palace is easy to spot and teams reach it in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison
2(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
3(+0) Will & James
4(+0) Eswar & Aparna
5(+0) Hung & Chee
6(+0) Kaylynn & Haley
Here is a route info which tells teams to travel by horse and carriage in style to the palace. They must first dress in traditional clothes, pick up a pair of socialites and then travel by horse and buggy to the actual palace.
There isn't really anything they can do to speed this up so they all arrive to the palace in the same order. By the end of the ride they find the last yield of the race. Riley & Maddison yield Kaylynn & Haley (20 minutes). They say they do this because Hung & Chee are struggling and they want to give their allies a chance.
Road block: "Who wants to set things straight?"
In this road block teams must choose a unique place setting and then precisely set it up ten identical times. It seems as if only one team can chose a particular place setting. The judge is also very picky so teams need to use the provided rules to measure that they get everything set up correctly.
The dining table they must set up their places at is 108 feet long and there are red and yellow garlands laid over it to separate the different racers areas.
There is a guy who shows teams how they must fold their napkins (this differs between the different settings.
"Definitely not easy", Riley
After a while Gary spots the yardstick. He asks the instructor if it is for folding but when it is not he realize they have to measure stuff. He then takes great care to not use it while Gary is in the room.
"I'm gonna reveal this tip of measuring to James, but not to Gary, if I can help it", Riley
James also finds the ruler and is telling the camera that he wants to keep that detail for himself, just then Riley approaches and tells him about it.
James interviews that the five team alliance is more or less over. Now they focus on the three team alliance with Riley & Maddison and Hung & Chee.
The measuring thing does not make that big of a difference as the judge will also use a yardstick when judging so then it becomes obvious to the contestants what they need to do.
The first five teams are all at this road block at the same time so there is a lot of tension in the air.
"It's not really my forte, so to say", Gary is not used to setting tables like this
Kaylynn & Haley just laughs when they see that they are yielded again.
"You're never out until you're out.", Kaylynn keeps her spirits up
"We're trying not to be bitter about the two yields, but we're bitter", Kaylynn while they are waiting
"This is not payback, this is karma", Kaylynn realizes that karma has bitten them in the ass, quite hard actually (and gets the title)
All other teams have completed the road block when Kaylynn & Haley are released from their yield.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Riley* & Maddison (4-4)2(+1)Will & James* (4-4)3(-1)DeAngelo & Gary* (4-4)4(+1)Hung* & Chee (4-4)5(-1)Eswar & Aparna* (4-4)6(+0)Kaylynn & Haley* (4-4)
Route info: "It is finally time to see Phil. Race to the southeast garden of Taj Falaknuma Palace and find the Pit Stop. Warning: the last team to check in will be eliminated!"
Teams make their way on foot to the put stop. This seems easy to find because nobody is shown getting lost. Teams arrive in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison, win a 7 day Caribbean cruise
2(+0) Will & James
3(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
4(+0) Hung & Chee
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, seconds after #4
6(+0) Kaylynn & Haley, are eliminated
"This has just been the most humbling, incredible, eye-opening, magical experience", Kaylynn
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 10, "Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty"
Film date: probably 2018-11-29 - 2018-11-30
The last pit stop was at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, India. Teams are released from a different place, probably the pit stop hotel garden, in the following order:
1.Riley & Maddison 15:252.Will & James 15:42+0:173.DeAngelo & Gary 15:58+0:334.Hung & Chee 16:26+1:015.Eswar & Aparna 16:52+1:27
Note that in the last leg Eswar & Aparna arrived at the pit stop just after Hung & Chee. Apparently Hung & Chee got a time credit due to a production issue in the last leg, which is why they are starting earlier.
Route info: "Fly to the city of Siem Reap in Cambodia."
The clue also tells teams that when they land they must take a taxi to Psar Cha Old market where they can find a Tuk Tuk with a gnome in it.
"The three kids love the Travelocity roaming gnome with all his different accessories", Chee
On the way to the airport we get to hear some U-turn plans. Teams think there may be one this leg and the plan is for the core alliance (Will & James, Riley & Maddison and Hung & Chee) to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary. And then block the board by U-turning the team who did the first U-turn.
The trip is, as usual in this season, already booked so all teams are on the same flight. Which probably is:
TG 330 HYD-BKG 01:36 - 06:25
PG 903 BKG-REP 08:29 - 09:36
"We're getting down to the nitty gritty here", Riley gets the quote
In Siem Reap teams jump into taxis and make it to the market. Some teams have an easier time finding the Tuc Tucs than others. Once they found them there was a task which has mostly been left on the cutting room floor. Apparently teams got a license plate number and given that they had to find the driver and his motorcycle. Then connect it to the Tuc Tuc before they can use it to leave.
The Tuc Tuc also contains a basket with donations which they must keep with them until further notice.
Teams leave in their Tuc Tucs in the following order:
1. Will & James
2. Hung & Chee
3. Riley & Maddison
4. DeAngelo & Gary
5. Eswar & Aparna
It seems as if the first three teams leave more or less together and the last two are trailing behind.
Teams must travel with their Tuc Tuc and Gnome to Chong Kneas pier where they will find their next clue.
Teams reach the pier in the following order:
1(+2) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) Will & James
3(-1) Hung & Chee, seconds after #2
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary, just a couple of minutes after #3
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Teams must now travel by boat to Chong Kneas village and visit a floating Buddhist temple. Here they must donate the basket of everyday items to get their next clue.
There are small life vests for the gnomes.
The clue seems to give detailed instructions about how to behave in the temple. We see Riley & Maddison practice the temple ceremony in the boat on the way there. And as they do this the engine of their boat breaks down. Fortunately their drive soon manages to get i going again but two teams do pass them while it is broken.
Teams reach the temple in the following order:
1(+2) Hung & Chee
2(+0) Will & James
3(-2) Riley & Maddison
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Only one team at a time is allowed in the temple so the other teams must wait for their turn.
Detour: Fish or Farm
In fish teams must pull a net, which is more than half a mile long, through a spinning wheel which will separate the fish from the net. After that they must measure 15kg of fish. To do that they need to get the arrow for the scales from the satchel which their gnome is carrying.
In farm teams must complete a small floating garden. They must mix the soil and plant local produce to replicate an example. At the end they must plant the seeds which the gnome is carrying in his satchel.
Hung & Chee ask their driver to take them to the fish detour but when he delivers them to the farm detour they decide to do it instead. The floating gardens are actually small rafts and they do move quite a lot so in the behind the scenes videos we see that teams had problems with seasickness on this task.
Chee turns out to know all of the plants they are planting.
"This is definitely backbreaking work", Chee on the gardening
We also get the hear more about the plan to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary.
Nobody struggles with the detours. They just take a long time. From the outgoing placements we can see that the farming side was slower, or farther away. But the difference can not have been that big because both teams doing the farm side had left before the U-turned team arrived.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+2) Riley & Maddison, fish
2(+2) DeAngelo & Gary, fish just after #
- Eswar & Aparna, fish
3(-2) Hung & Chee, farm
4(-2) Will & James, farm
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, farm
Teams must now travel to a nearby floating restaurant where they will encounter the final U-turn of the race.
On the way to the U-turn Riley & Maddison realize it would be stupid to U-turn DeAngelo & Gary as they are right behind them.
"If we U-turn DeAngelo & Gary they could U-turn Chee & Hung or the boyfriends", Maddison
It seems as if Riley & Maddison do not want to find the U-turn board first, they search the lower level of the restaurant so that DeAngelo & Gary can pass them. In the end teams reach the U-turn board in the following order:
1(+1) DeAngelo & Gary, U-turn Eswar & Aparna
2(-1) Riley & Maddison, U-turn DeAngelo & Gary to burn the board
- Eswar & Aparna
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) Will & James
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
A lot can be said about the strategy here. IMHO DeAngelo & Gary did the strategically right thing here by U-turning a team they knew was behind them. Riley & Madison's blocking of the board shows that they are very committed to their alliance. A IMHO better move would have been to do nothing, this would have allowed Eswar & Aparna to U-turn another strong team wile still letting Riley & Maddison keep their hands clean.
"That sucks", Aparna's reaction to the U-turn
"This is so frustrating", James wanted to see DeAngelo & Gary U-turned
Route info: "Travel by boat back to Chong Kneas pier, once there tell your Tuc Tuc driver to take you to the Khmer floor handicraft in Siem Reap to receive your next clue"
Teams arrive to the floor handicraft place in the following order:
1(+1) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) DeAngelo & Gary, seconds after #1
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) Will & James
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna
Road block: Who thinks they can fit the mold?
In this road block contestants must make a floor tile. There is a ongoing silent demonstration they can watch. Once they have crafted a tile they can get a key from the satchel their Gnome is carrying. This key unlocks a chest with eighth additional tiles in it. It also has these instructions on the lid:
1. Fit these eight tiles into their
proper places on the puzzle
tray.
2. Once you have properly fitted
the eight tiles into the tray
your slide puzzle is ready to
be solved.
3. Solve the slide puzzle you
have just created.
4. When you think you have
solved the slid puzzle, place
your finished decorative tile
into the open slot to receive
your next clue.
The pieces in the chest have small pegs on their back and these fits into holes drilled into the slide puzzle pieces. I assume that each tile only fits in one location and in one specific orientation.
To make their tile they place a jig in a form, then fill the various areas of the jig with the correct paints. Then remove the jig and sprinkle cement over the paint. After that they put it in a press, which a local operates. Finally they just need to remove the finished tile from the form.
This all sounds a lot easier than it turns out to be. The tiles keep crumbling when teams try to remove them from the form. The crucial step which they all initially miss is that the form needs to be liberally waxed before being assembled. The whole process for making one tile takes 10-15 minutes.
DeAngelo struggles with this task, his tiles keeps breaking when he tries to remove them from the mold. Gary also struggles to keep quiet as he knows what DeAngelo is missing.
"All you need to do is watch the guy one full time", Gary talks to himself
"I think there is something key that I'm missing here", Riley
Riley decides to watch the entire demonstration.
In earlier seasons we have seen teams struggle mightily with tile puzzles but this one is a dud. Nobody seems to struggle with it. Perhaps because it is just 3x3 tiles?
Eswar & Aparna arrive two hours after the first teams got to the road block and by that time the first two teams have left. Eswar is doing the road block while Aparna talks trash at DeAngelo.
"DeAngelo, if you want to mess up for a few more hours, that would be great, Aparna
"I'm just hoping you keep on messing up over there",Aparna
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Riley* & Maddison (5-4)On his 6th attempt2(+2)Will* & James (5-4)On his 4th attempt3(+0)Hung & Chee* (4-5)On his 6th attempt4(-2)DeAngelo* & Gary (5-4)On his 12th attempt5(+0)Eswar* & Aparna (5-4)On his 4th attempt
Route info: "Race to your next pit stop at Angkor Thom" The clue also warns that the last team to check in will be eliminated.
Teams rush back to their Tuc Tuc drivers and tell them to drive to the east gate of Angkor Thom.
As usual the editing shows the next to last team struggling with everything and the last team flying through all obstacles. For example we get to see DeAngelo & Gary get stopped by a bunch of monks while some workers bring down a tree.
In interviews after we learn that it was not nearly as close as it was made to seem. The last team was about 45 minutes behind the next to last team.
Teams arrive at the mat in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison, win a trip to Bergen, Norway
2(+0) Will & James
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
5(+0) Eswar & Aparna, are eliminated
"I'm just happy that I got to spend all this time with my brother", Aparna
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 11, "Run on your tippy toes"
Film date: probably 2018-12-01 - 2018-12-02
The last pit stop was at Angkor Thom, Cambodia. Teams are released from somewhere else, probably the pit stop hotel garden, in the following order:
1.Riley & Maddison 14:002.Will & James 14:52+0:523.Hung & Chee 15:38+1:384.DeAngelo & Gary 15:55+1:55
Route info: Fly to Manila in the Philippines.
Once at the Manila airport teams must find a marked jepney which will take them to Phil at Lapu Lapu Circle.
All teams are on the same flight:
UO 707 REP-HKG 2020-12-01 19:18 - 22:23 (Scheduled 19:15 - 22:55)
CX 907 HKG-MNL 2020-12-02 09:31 - 11:12
All teams meet up with Phil at the Lapu Lapu circle. He tells them that this leg of the race will be a city sprint. The entire leg will take place in Manila and there are no road blocks or detours. He also tells them that the pit stop will be exactly where they are right now.
He also takes the unusual step of recommending the teams not to work together. By this we can infer that he and production are not happy with the strong alliance which has formed between three of the remaining teams.
Finally he tells them that their first clue is inside on the marked jeepneys parked nearby. After he shoots the starting gun all teams take off. They seem to reach the jeepneys more or less together.
In the jeepney is a clue: "Solve this riddle: To find the marked clue giver keep your eyes peeled while you are on the road. Red means stop Green means go. When it comes to traffic I make it flow. Hold out your hand and grab your clue and then you will find out what is waiting for you."
The answer to the riddle is that teams will get their next clue from a policeman directing traffic. This guy is famous for the dance moves he uses on the job. He has also been featured in the race before (season 25 episode 10).
The jeepney driver know where to go but the racers do not know where the clue will be. Teams quickly realize that traffic in Manila is insane. Once they reach the correct intersection two of the jeepneys make to tight turns so their teams miss the cop. They have to make a U-turn and go back again.
Teams get the clue from the traffic cop in the following order:
1. Riley & Maddison
2. DeAngelo & Gary
3. Will & James, missed the cop on the first pass
4. Hung & Chee, missed the cop on the first pass
Route info: "Tell your driver to take you to Mall of Asia"
At the mall teams must run a 500m course wearing high heels. This is apparently an annual event here and each team is joined by a bunch of locals.
"This sucks so bad", DeAngelo is not happy
We learn that Chee has walked around in heels and Will owns a pair of heels. But none of them have done any running in them.
Teams start their races in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison
2(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
3(+1) Hung & Chee
4(-1) Will & James, just after #3
Teams complete the race in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison
2(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
3(+1) Will & James
4(-1) Hung & Chee, just after #3
Route info: Make your way to Binondo. Search the streets for lions. Reach into their bite, they won't put up a fight. You'll get your next clue if you are right."
Teams must now travel by taxi way to Binondo, the Chinatown of Manila. They need to enter through the Arch of Goodwill and must search the streets for lions. The lions are guys in a lion costumes. There is a bunch of them around but the one with the clue is the one dancing next to two musicians.
Teams think they are looking for statues of lions, and there even is one right by the arch. At least two teams look for a clue in the moth of that, but no luck.
Hung & Chee get a bad taxi and their driver does not know where the arch of Goodwill is. He instead drops them off at Binondo Chinatown Arch. This is about 600m away from the arch of Goodwill. They seem to run around quite a bit looking for the place they should be. Extra humor is generated when Hung tries to impersonate a lion statue in front of some police officers. The problem is that they are asking for lion statues, which is not really what they should be looking for. Eventually they do find the right area and the lions.
Teams get the clue from the lion in the following order:
1(+1) DeAngelo & Gary
2(+1) Will & James
3(-2) Riley & Maddison
4(+0) Hung & Chee
Route info: To the Central post office on foot you must go.
Teams find the clue box at the central post office (~700m) in the following
order:
1(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
2(+0) Will & James
3(+0) Riley & Maddison
4(+0) Hung & Chee
Route info: Go into the square, you will find horses there. Prepare their feed, it's just what they need.
Teams must now search the plaza for marked vendors, each will have one ingredient for the horses feed. The ingredients are: molasses, grain and grass. Teams need to mix the first two with water and serve their horse in order to get their next clue.
DeAngelo & Gary walk past one of the marked vendors multiple times and we get the classic shot where they say they can't find it and the camera pans down to show the marked stall.
Teams feed their horses in the following order:
1(+1) Will & James
2(+1) Riley & Maddison
3(-2) DeAngelo & Gary
4(+0) Hung & Chee
Route info: Mehan garden is having a rock show, travel here to get your next clue.
The clue also says that they have to make their way on foot.
Teams arrive to Mehan Garden (600m) in the following order:
1(+0) Will & James
2(+0) Riley & Maddison
3(+0) DeAngelo & Gary
4(+0) Hung & Chee, a bit behind but all teams are still doing the task here
Here teams encounter a difficult memory task. The band is playing a medley of four different songs teams heard on the race. The songs are from the following legs:
* leg 5, France: played by a string quartet at the road block
* leg 2, Colombia, played by a band in the circus tent at the road block
* leg 4, Paraguay, the tune played by the trash band as teams complete the road block
* leg 1, Trinidad & Tobago, the tune they had to play at the road block
There is a truck parked nearby and in it teams must find four cases marked with the flags of the above countries. They must then present the cases to the band manager in the order they heard the songs on the race (which is not the order the band is playing them).
The racers are initially stumped by this task. Two of the songs, the circus tune and Day 0 from leg 1, are simple to recognize but the others are not. And initially all teams miss the fact that the flags should be presented in the order they appeared on the race, not in the order the band play them.
"We've got to line them up in the order that they play it", Gary has missed one crucial detail
If you have time to think and do not feel stressed, none of which applies to the racers, then this task is fairly easy. Assume you know the flags and recognize two of the songs, both of which the racers seemed to do. Then it is fairly easy to do a brute force attack on the problem as there are only 21 possible flag combinations to try for the remaining flags.
But the racers are stressed and jet legged so they spend lots of time on this task. According to interviews they spent about 3 hours here.
The judge have to come up with many ways to tells teams they are wrong. We get to hear things like:
"Nope"
"You'll have to do better than that"
"It's a big no"
"Try again"
"Incorrect"
"You need to go back to the truck"
"Still not the right answer"
"Still not the... not good"
Initially every team work by themselves. It seems as if DeAngelo & Gary ask other teams if they want to work together but there are no takers.
Eventually the core alliance of Will & James, Riley & Maddison and Hung & Chee decide to work together. Riley makes a list of the possible combinations and they decide to try them all. Unfortunately they still haven't realized which order to use so their attempt is doomed.
"We only need to do about 15 permutations", Riley
"They're helping each other bro", DeAngelo is not happy when he see what is happening
The alliance test all their permutations and are very surprised when none of them are approved.
"This is so defeating", Maddison
They decide to start guessing wildly, or at least replace the ones they think they know. This is when Will & James and Hung & Chee both reread their clue.
"...in the order they were played on the Race", James spot their mistake
The magic of editing makes it look like that is all it took and on the next guess Riley & Maddison get it. Once they get it they rush over and tell the other teams in their alliance.
"They just told them", Gary is not happy
Once the alliance teams get it and leave the wind goes out of DeAngelo & Gary.
"There's no point in us trying, we'll take the penalty", DeAngelo
DeAngelo & Gary both lie down to take a nap while they serve their 2h penalty.
Teams complete this challenge in the following order:
1(+1) Riley & Maddison
2(-1) Will & James
3(+1) Hung & Chee
4(-1) DeAngelo & Gary, gave up and took the 2h penalty
Route info: Make your way to where it's at, back to where you saw Phil, but now there is a mat, it's as easy as that.
Teams must now make their way back to Lapu Lapu circle (1.1km). This is not hard to find so teams check in with Phil in the following order:
1(+0) Riley & Maddison
2(+0) Will & James
3(+0) Hung & Chee
4(+0) DeAngelo & Gary, are eliminated
At the mat Phil tells the first three teams that the finale will be in New Orleans, and that they will get an upgrade on the flight there.
"The race sucked, the bad outweighed the good, I'll never come back on the show again", DeAngelo is frank
At least Gary did enjoy the experience. In interviews later we learn that it was Gary who wanted to go on the show and DeAngelo agreed to do it with him. DeAngelo stood by his word but he did not like being confined to the pit stop hotels.
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 32, Episode 12, "Now its about winning"
Film date: probably 2018-12-03 - 2018-12-02
The last pit stop was at Lapu Lapu circle in Manila. Teams are released from the same place in the following order:
1.Riley & Maddison 05:582.Will & James 06:01+0:033.Hung & Chee 06:03+0:05
The first clue tells them to fly to New Orleans, Louisiana USA.
On the way to the airport Riley & Maddison feel confident since they have won the last three legs.
As usual the final flight is pre-arranged and teams also get an upgrade so they can fly home in comfort. The flight is:
PR112 MNL-LAX 11:10 - 08:25
DL2297 LAX-MSY 11:56 - 17:14
Note that as the flight from Manila crosses the international date line it is still the same date when it lands so in some sense it lands before it took off.
The RFF on site team reported that teams were held at the airport for a couple of hours when they landed. Once released teams run out to the taxis and ask to be taken to Louis Armstrong park.
"It's no longer about survival and just advancing, now it is about winning", Chee gets the title
Riley & Maddison have bad luck with their taxi. The driver thinks that the park is on S Rampart Street so that is where he takes them. Unfortunately the park is on N Rampart Street. Eventually Riley & Maddison say they spot it so they can get out of their taxi.
The clue box is located just outside the park and teams reach it in the following order:
1. Will & James
2. Hung & Chee
3. Riley & Maddison
Route info: "Join the party on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter and collect 50 red and 50 gold beads to receive your next clue."
Teams must now make their way on foot to the intersection of Bourbon Street and Bienville Street (0.6miles). When they arrive they find that there is a party going on. There are bands playing and lots of people. There is no change in order as teams arrive here but it is worth noting that the last team gets here while the other teams are doing the task.
Each team must get up onto a party float and the catch beaded necklaces being thrown from the balconies above. In each float there is a grand marshal wearing examples of acceptable beads to collect. It turns out that there are two sizes of beads being thrown big and small and it is only the big ones which count.
Initially teams collect both big and small beads but eventually they figure out they can only use the big ones. I do not think anybody lost much time over this mistake.
Teams leave this task in the same order as they arrives, that is:
1(+0) Will & James
2(+0) Hung & Chee
3(+0) Riley & Maddison
Road block: "Who will be left holding the baby?"
Upon reading the clue Will immediately knows what the task will be, or at least he thinks he does. He enthusiastically volunteers to do it.
"King cake, me, me", Will
"I'll hold it. It sounds heavy", Chee makes a more literal interpretation of the clue
The inner clue reads: "Find the baby in the King cake. Then eat half a dozen beignets with your partner to receive your next clue. To get to Cafe beignet, both of you must put on a washboard and play with the band all the way there. Have fun with it."
It is a short walk (0.2miles) to Cafe Beignet on Royal Street. Here contestants must search through a bunch of king cakes to find the hidden baby which is baked into one of them. Once they have found the baby both team members must together eat half a dozen beignets.
When contestants arrive they must put on an apron and pick a table which holds 16 king cakes. As they start searching these cakes the staff rolls out two carts with a about 36 cakes on each. So it seems as if each contestant has 88 cakes to search through.
Will has had king cake before so he knows the size of the baby. He starts pressing his cakes and uses flat hands to be sure nothing slips between his fingers.
Will find his baby just as Riley & Maddison arrive to the task. But then there is the eating beignets sub task. And Will, who has tasted the King cakes while looking for the baby, is full. In the end James have to eat four of the beignets.
Will's hands are covered in king cake frosting while he eats the beignets. We then see him, still with dirty hands, tell the judge that they are done. The judge reaches for the clue but when he gives it over Will's hands are clean.
Chee is not happy when he realize that he has searched through all cakes but not found the baby. So he must have missed it and need to go through them all again.
As he is doing that the camera and Hung both spot the baby which lies by the edge of the table.
"I see Chee's baby, It's on the table", Hung to Riley
Hung knows that she can not help Chee in any way.
"That was probably one of the most frustrating points on the race", Hung
After about 15 minutes Chee spot the baby and they can move on to the beignets.
"I just saw the size of the baby and I wasn't expecting it to be that small", Maddison saw the baby
"More chewing, less talking", Hung as they consume their beignets
"I'm pre-chewing it with my fingers", Hung on how to quickly eat beignets
Hung asks Chee if he can help her by eating some of her beignets. Before doing so he checks the clue that this is allowed, smart.
In interviews later we learn that Maddison spent about 3 hours looking for the baby.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Will* & James (6-4)2(+0)Hung & Chee* (4-6)3(+0)Riley & Maddison* (5-5)
Route info: Travel by taxi to the New Orleans convention center and search near hall H for your next clue.
Nobody has any trouble getting to the convention center and finding the clue box there.
Road block: "Who wants to take a swing at this road block? If you performed the last road block you partner must attempt this one."
In this road block contestants must climb under the Crescent City connection bridge. Then climb out on an enormous beam and finally leap out to catch a hanging clue. They are attached to a rope so after they catch the clue they will swing back and forth a bit before getting winched back up again. This task sounds harder than it is. The "leap" is taken from a sitting position and is nor particularly far so everybody gets the clue on their first attempt.
"This is not fun", Will is not fond of heights
"I don't like heights", Hung
Although this is a scary task it is the finale so nobody is going to chicken out.
As Hung & Chee are in the taxi on their way to this task their driver comments that it is a small world. It turns out his friend is waiting for Will & James to come off the bridge.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Will* & James (6-5)Before the next team arrives2(+0)Hung* & Chee (5-6)Before the next team arrives3(+0)Riley* & Maddison (6-5)
Route info: "Rappel off the bridge and roll a gigantic ball to Mardi Gras world".
Teams will now rappel down to the ground below and then make their way on foot to Mardi Gras world. On the ground they will find a 10 feet high ball which they have to bring with them.
Inside Mardi Gras world teams find another clue box.
Route info: "Search the warehouse for a trunk with puzzle pieces and attach the pieces to your ball to make a gigantic globe of planet earth."
The clue also tells that the chest is located by a court jester.
The pieces in the chest are long strips of cloth. All teams realize that this puzzle is much easier to solve if you first lay all the strips on the ground in the correct order before attaching them to the globe. The pieces seem to attach with velcro at the ends.
Nobody seems to have any problem with solving this puzzle. But once solved teams must get their globe up onto a float and then get it approved by a judge.
Your map is correct but the assembly needs work", the judge
All of them seem to get their first attempt rejected since the pieces are not tight enough.
Riley & Maddison arrive to the warehouse while Hung & Chee are assembling their strips.
Teams complete this task in the following order:
1(+0) Will & James
2(+0) Hung & Chee
3(+0) Riley & Maddison
Route info: "This is it, run to the finish line of the Amazing Race. Travel by taxi to the main entrance of where the saint go marching in. Go, go, go!!!"
Teams must now figure out that they need to go to the New Orleans Super-dome. Will & James, who are in the lead, have no problem figuring that out.
Teams reach Phil in the following order:
1(+0) Will & James, win $1,000,000
2(+0) Hung & Chee
3(+0) Riley & Maddison
"11 countries, 17 cities, more than 33,000 miles", Phil summarizes the race
At the finish line Will takes the opportunity to propose to James.
Looking back we can definitely say that the outcome of this leg was determined by the King Cake road block. The first team got a huge lead here. It may seem like a luck based challenge but based on interviews it seems as if James used a much better strategy when searching for the baby.
"It's a dream come true", James
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