Well, well, well. What do we have here? Hong Kong, you say? That ain't no downtown Regina, that's for sure. The title is rather ominous ad makes me wonder who this liar is and what could they possibly lie about? But the most important question is, do they have any Timmies in Hong Kong?
***Danger, Danger, Danger***
There are spoilers here...obviously!!! So only click if you want to know. Duh!
So our brave little Cannucks are off to see the wonders of the Orient.They will make their way back to Victoria, then hop on a ferry to Vancouver. All the teams will head off to Hong Kong on the same flight. It's Air Canada, you know. This will get rid of that nasty 6 hour disadvantage that Rex and Bob were handed for failing to do anything in Tofino other than sort a few fish and come up with a couple of good one-liners. How convenient for them. But there's more to come concerning them...read on.
They visit a snake shop where they must eat something cut out from a live snake. I have heard some think its the heart, and I have heard its bile. Whatever it is, its nasty. I am gagging already. Let's hope Natalie's stomach can endure this. But it is a local delicacy, and when in Hong Kong....you do what the Hong-Kongians?, um Hong-Kongettes?, ah, whatever. You do as the locals do. There is a problem here though. There are two vegan teams: Laura & Jackie and Rex & Bob. So will they "opt out" and take a penalty, even if it might mean elimination? Especially Rex and Bob. Even though they promised to smarten up. After their little performance on the last leg, you have to wonder what takes the most courage - eating the snake innards or taking another penalty? Something else to consider. Will the show will suffer any backlash for showing the killing of an animal on TV?
This leg will see the first Double U Turn, and both of them will be used. Here's who gets the shaft:
- Natalie and Meaghan are the first to get U Turned, compliments of Rex and Bob. This move will be sure to infuriate the Hockey Gils fans and turn Rex and Bob the villains of the series, perhaps making them look like the Canadian version of Rachel and Brendon (when they U Turned Dave and Connor). That can't be good. Yes, yes, I know its all part of the game but the guys are already catching flack for the double penalty fiasco, and this move won't go over well.
- The second U Turn is a bit of a mess. The reason being that people who witnessed the U Turn board saw AND photographed two different U Turn scenarios. The first sighting was a photo of Pierre and Michel U Turned by Sukhi and Jinder. No teams were seen nearby, but the board was quickly covered by production. The second was a video which showed Sukhi and Jinder getting U Turned by Alain and Audrey.
See the problem? Which is the real one? The first sighting - that is with Pierre & Michel seems more logical because they have been running neck and neck with Sukhi and Jinder. However...the video with Sukhi and Jinder as the target shows Alain and Audrey walking away from the board. What's up with that? Well either one of them was a dummy by production (they kept trying to shoo people away during filming), or a genuine mistake was made.There were a lot of people walking and milling about...it is Hong Kong, after all. I am going to leave it for you to make up your own mind. I haven't decided, although right now but I am leaning toward the first one being correct. This whole mess leaves me asking if the whole thing was a ruse by production, or was the U Turn handled so badly by the production crew that they will edit the entire segment out? One other thought: did one of the teams mess with the board and could this be the source of the title quote "Snakes and Liars"?
The main thing to know about the U Turns is neither will have any effect on the outcome of the show, no one will be eliminated because of them.
Another Route Marker task happens on Hong Kong's Avenue of the Stars. Teams must
re-enact the pose of the Bruce Lee statue as if they were in one of his films and following the instructions of the judge - a Director of the "movie". He looks like he's going to be a real character and a lot of fun to watch. I also know that by the time Rex and Bob do this, they are running behind Natalie and Meaghan by a significant amount of time. So something else happens with Rex and Rob...they were obviously ahead of Natalie and Meaghan to be able to U Turn them, then fell way behind by the time they got to the Avenue of Stars. Perhaps they forgot something there and had to return to retrieve it? Or maybe they were a little ashamed of their performance in Tofino and were afraid of Bruce kicking their butts for it.
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| Will Bruce kick some Canadian arses? |
CTV released a special sneak peek on the show's Facebook page (July 22) which suggests that as part of the Detour, the challenge is to collect recipe ingredients and visit the Demon Chef. Rex and Bob are in a cab, and Rex says, "I'm not doing it." The Demon Chef is Alvin Leung from Masterchef Canada and his restaurant is Bo Innovation in Hong Kong. He is well known for his "X-treme Chinese" style and has been known to cook foods in a condom. Yes, you just read that correctly.
Teams were seen during filming taking the 360 degree cable car over to Lantau Island. There are going to be some beautiful views. The preview confirms my suspicions that they had to climb the 268 steps up to the Tian Tan (also known as the Big Buddha). The Buddha itself is 268 m tall. They may also visit the Po Lin Monastery.
The probable pitstop is at Kowloon Walled City Park. The teams on the bubble this week are: Laura & Jackie; Rex & Bob; and Cormac & Nicole. You can see how I have added the latter two in this week, only because Hong Kong was the last place these two teams were seen. Don't panic...it just means this was the last place they were seen, so I must include them. The preview shows Rex ad Bob having a hard time climbing the steps to the Buddha, trying to keep up with Laura and Jackie. If this turns into a footrace to the pitstop, I would have to say the odds are against Rex ad Bob. Unless of course this turns out to be a Non-Elimination Leg, which is a very real possibility.
It seems there have been a lot of complainers on social media about the Amazing Race Canada leaving Canada and traveling the world. They make the most ridiculous comments, like "I thought it was supposed to stay in Canada?" It is so funny reading these and I just have to wonder if they understand the concept of the show. The original show and many of its franchises travel the world. This is what keeps it fresh and exciting. Sure, there are still a lot of places to go in Canada, but I also find it incredible that Canadians get to go to other places too. This show isn't going to get cancelled anytime soon. It will get to those great places in Canada. I have no doubt. But I also don't want to see it get stale either, and regress to having a pitstop at the Timmies in Square One Mississauga.
I also can't wait to see the reaction when they return to Canada in the 5th episode. That will be hilarious too. More complainers, I am sure.
Check my homepage on Wednesday for my recap of this leg. Meanwhile, feel free to ask questions, leave a comment or start a conversation.