Sophie & Aurelia were unable to make up their 8 hour gap in The Amazing Race Asia 2 Episode 4 and were eliminated. Marc & Rovilson continued their dominance, while Terri & Henry fell even more apart than before.
Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.
First: Marc & Rovilson (12:46am)
Second: Adrian & Collin (2:49am)
Third: Paula & Natasha (3:44am)
Fourth: Ann & Diane (3:47am)
Fifth: Daichi & Sawaka (4:04am)
Sixth: Pamela & Vanessa (4:26am)
Seventh: Henry & Terri (5:06am)
The show switched Pamela & Vanessa/Terri & Henry, saying Pamela & Vanessa departed last, but it appears to have just been an error.
The next stop is Tokyo Japan, 8839km away, where they will first head to Shiba Park. Japan is the home country of Daichi & Sawaka, who have thus far been largely toward the back/middle of the pack. There is concern from the teams that the language barrier may be problematic.
Marc & Rovilson believe this game is about momentum, which is clearly something they have. Their lead is even more pronounced now than it was in the last leg, though the airport should take care of that.
Everybody is discussing how they dislike Ann & Diane, or at least Diane.
All teams get on the same flight to Japan.
Upon arriving in Japan, Daichi & Sawaka hide from the other teams so that nobody follows them. It’s unclear what this achieves, as everybody gets on the same train anyway. With the exception of Terri & Henry, who have difficulty because of the language. However, it does allow Daichi & Sawaka to at least not be on the same car as everybody else.
Marc & Rovilson take the Yaminote Line and break off from the pack. Daichi & Sawaka go to Hamamatsucho and will get a cab to Tokyo there. By thinking differently, they are the first two teams to arrive at the park. The boys forget to get a map, though, but Daichi & Sawaka know exactly where they’re going. So they let them pass and just follow them there.
Teams must travel by rickshaw to the Sony Building in Ginza. There, teams must convince a member of the public to sing the traditional Japanese song Sakura with one of them while being recorded on a Sony HD Handy Cam (yeah, Sony’s a sponsor, too). They must also sing it correctly. Since Sawaka knows the lyrics, as does Ann, this is easy enough for them to make sure it’s right. Not so much for the other teams, like Marc & Rovilson, who can’t find any Japanese people (in Tokyo).
The next stop is the youth fashion center of Japan, Shibuya Mark City, where they will look for a Cosplay (a combination of the words costume and play, centered on dressing as fantasy characters from anime and video games) girl matching the photo in their Sony Cybershot camera (there’s a fine line between product placement and hitting someone over the head, and they’re flirting with that line).
The detour is the choice between catch it or cart it. In catch it, teams must make their way to a restaurant and catch 40 goldfish using traditional paddles made of rice paper, which disintegrates in water. In cart it, teams must pick out a traditional yukata (casual kimono) from a dry cleaner and deliver it by foot to a local address, navigating the confusing streets.
Catch it (in order of obtaining the clue): Paula & Natasha (switched from cart it), Vanessa & Pamela, Terri & Henry
Cart it: Daichi & Sawaka (switched from catch it), Marc & Rovilson (based on a coin flip), Ann & Diane (unable to find catch it), Adrian & Collin
With the exception of Daichi & Sawaka, everybody’s having trouble finding anything. Terri’s ready to quit (again). Once they arrive, though, she finds the fish task to be calming. That’s new.
The road block is at Icebar Tokyo, and they must decipher an ice puzzle to figure out where they’re going next. The puzzle can potentially spell out more than one Japanese city, so it’s not entirely straightforward. Should be fairly easy for anyone who knows Japanese cities, though. It spells out Fukuoka, where they will travel via Shinagawa train station.
Road block: Sawaka, Rovilson, Ann, Adrian, Paula, Vanessa, Henry
Despite Terri & Henry wandering around for quite some time, they’re still able to catch up to Pamela & Vanessa, as Vanessa’s having difficulty coming up with the city. Due to the fairly poor design of the challenge, Vanessa finishes first of the two, but Henry just looks at her answer when she leaves and gets it right after her.
The pyramid at Fukuoka International Congress Center is the next stop. The earliest train is at 6am, which should allow for some bunching. All teams board the same train, for a trip all the way across Japan of 1100km. Because of this, the rest of the leg becomes largely moot, and the deciding factor in finishing order is all about one taxi ride.
Not that that matters because as time ticks away and nobody’s even gotten to the mat yet, it becomes more and more obvious that this is a to be continued leg. Diane & Ann are the first to get to the Congress Center and receive the news that they must continue racing.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of The Amazing Race Asia 2 episode 6, and don’t forget our live blogs of The Amazing Race 12.