Recap of Episode 4 "They're Harshing Our Mellow" Amazing Race Canada 2

In this episode we find out there is a street in Macau called Happiness Street. Most people dream of living on Happiness Street, but our brave Cannucks found nothing but stress there. But Mickey has a cure for that...

These guys are getting cranky. Oh, it starts out great with everyone so excited that they are going to Macau, but things get nasty real quick. Here are the departure times:

Natalie and Meaghan 12:02 PM

Cormac and Nicole 1:07

Pierre and Michel 1:22

Ryan and Rob 1:25

Mickey and Pete 1:30

Alain and Audrey 1:31

Rex and Bob 1:50

Sukhi and Jinder 2:12

I love looking at the departure times because you can see just how closely the teams finished the last leg, or how much of a lead the winning team had. Notice Natalie and Meaghan's lead. Skipping the Detour with their Express Pass in Hong Kong only bought them an hour lead. If they hadn't used it, that leg was anyone's to win. Interesting.

They are given 2,400 Hong Kong dollars and must catch the Turbo Jet to Macau. The first 4 teams to leave make the first ferry at 4, while the rest get on the 4:30. They must catch a taxi and find the 15th century A-Ma Temple to set off a string of firecrackers. The problem is there is an extremely long line to wait for the taxis. Natalie and Meaghan ask to cut into the front of the line, because they are in "a race". I am not sure if anyone understood them. Pierre and Michel jump into a cab, cutting off Cormac and Nicole who were next in line. Mama Bear kicks them out. Excellent. Give 'em hell Nicole.

The next clue sends them to the Macau Tower. The Roadblock clue reads "Who wants a

Rob...backwards.

good view of the city?" It's not just a good view. Nothing is that simple in Amazing Race Canada, is it? One team member must take a tethered bungee jump from the top of the tower. Speeds on the jump reach 100 km/h. Nope!!! There's a lovely little platform which extends out. They stand at the edge and the attendant gives them a gentle push. Here's the order of the jumpers:

• Meaghan - first there of course. I guess Meaghan decided to do this one based on what happened with

  

  Mickey...getting mellow.

  Natalie skydiving in Victoria.
• Pierre
• Cormac - He has a huge fear of heights. He seemingly teetered on the edge forever.
• Rob - He decided to do it backwards! No fear!
• Jinder
• Mickey - The attendants told him to make sure his pockets were empty. So what did he do? He just takes his pants off, and makes the leap in his red leopard print undies. Now that's mellow.
• Rex - He gets his own musical score...the finale from Swan Lake. It was a beautiful thing. He twirls as he dangles at the bottom.
• Audrey -They decide to run to the tower because they can't find a cab. Took them 45 minutes. Ouch.

Jinder: "I feel like we're missing something." Really, he said that.

From here they must make their way to Happiness St. and find a shop that sells Almond Biscuits to get their next clue. Have you noticed a pattern yet? There has been a food involved at some point in each leg. Think about it. Victoria was tea, Tofino was fish, and Hong Kong was snake. This one was very obvious because it was just a Route Marker. May mean something, may mean nothing. We'll have to see. Anyways, all of the teams have a hard time finding the correct shop in a sea of almond biscuit shops. Almond biscuits here, almond biscuits there. Is that why its called Happiness Street? Sukhi and Jinder earn the biggest fail, walking past the cluebox not once, but twice. Good grief Jinder. Its right there! They were standing right beside it when Jinder says, "I feel like we're missing something!" Really, he did! You can't make this stuff up. The siblings

Mickey's still mellow on Happiness Street.

are starting to stress themselves out running at the back of the pack and it shows. This in turn stresses out the Dudes. Pete calls them a "Tornado of Chaos" but Mickey earns the title quote with, "They're harshing our mellow." Its got to be pretty bad when you start to get to a guy who is so mellow that he is still running around Macau in his undies. Yep. He never stopped to put his pants back on. Much to the delight of the local ladies. God only knows what people were thinking when they saw him. Wait! I see. THAT'S why it's called Happiness Street!

The next clue is for this leg's Detour - a choice between "Stamp It" or "Stomp It". In Stamp It, the teams must search the winding streets around the ruins of St. Paul for 6 stations where they must stamp a symbol onto their scroll. Stomp It happens in Senado Square and involves learning a Macanese folk dance wearing male and female costumes. Here is what happened:

• Natalie and Meaghan pick Stomp It. Natalie chooses the male costume. They aren't happy about dances or routines of any sort - a situation I suspect was responsible in part for their decision to use the Express Pass in Hong Kong. Meaghan is getting cranky, and they start arguing. Meaghn wants to watch the dancing to learn it, but Natalie wants to learn by experience. After all that bickering, they still get it done and leave in first place.
• Pierre and Michel - Michel makes a pretty girl. They are second in, and second out, right behind the Hockey Girls.
• Ryan and Rob - Also choose Stomp It. Its a natural choice for Ryan to be the girl - he has many drag characters in his comedic repertoire. Although he usually has the luxury of shaving first. Here, he just looks like he's getting ready for a date with Shrek. Finally some back-story for these two! They get it done and head out in third.
• Rex and Bob - Their arrival stresses out the other teams who aren't too happy the "dancer is here." Of course they chose to do Stomp It. Wasn't it a foregone conclusion? But alas, poor Rex. Bob rightly points out the fact that Rex is the best partner any ballerina ever had. However, he is having a hard time learning these moves, and is sure he is going to catch hell from the National Ballet. They are 4th.
• Cormac and Nicole - Stomp It. They have a hard time with it. They start to panic, thinking they are last overall but don't consider the teams doing the other Detour challenge. They stick with it and head out to the next task in 5th place.
• Mickey and Pete - They choose Stomp It and even put their costumes on. Pete puts on the dress, but they see that the lead teams are still there. They switch to Stamp it, get their scrolls stamped and are in 6th place. Mickey finally puts his pants back on.
• Sukhi and Jinder - They get the costumes on, have a look at the dance, then switch to Stamp It. They are in 7th place.
• Alain and Audrey - They also take a look at the dance, which Audrey says, "looks fricking hard." They switch to the stamps. They are in last place at this point.

The last task is a Route Marker clue at the Grand Lapa Casino. They must figure out an ancient game called Fan Tan and successfully deal a round. There are two parts to this. The dealer selects from a pile of buttons, groups them in lines of 4, the number of buttons that are left (anywhere from 1 to 4) is the winning number. The gamblers place their bets with red chips. Then the dealer steps in with green and yellow chips for the payout. Its the yellow chips that are the problem, and the part that no one can understand. Listen, I even watched the video on the show's site that is supposed to explain it, and I still don't get it. From here its on to the pitstop at Praca De Ferreira Do Amaral. Here is what went down:

• Natalie and Meaghan have a bit of a problem understanding the game but get it done. They are the first ones to find Jon at the mat. AGAIN. they win 2 return tickets to Tokyo on the new Air Canada Dreamliner. Very nice. This time they win $3,000 spending money on a Scotia Bank American Express card.
• Ryan and Rob - Wow. They catch on to the game like childsplay and are 2nd in this leg. Watch this team! They try to give Sukhi a hint as they are running out the door. Ryan later said Sukhi and Jinder were acting like they (Ryan and Rob) had the last water on earth and they needed some.
• Rex and Bob - Bob explains his family Christmas gambling tradition. It's all just recognizing a pattern. These two have definitely redeemed themselves. What fiasco in Tofino? They finish 3rd.
• Cormac and Nicole - Cormac likes puzzles and they end up in 4th.
• Pierre and Michel - 5th. These guys are turning into the villains of TARC 2. They have threatened that they will U-Turn Natalie and Meaghan if they don't get the second Express Pass from them. Newsflash guys - you have to get ahead of them before u can U-Turn them! Good luck with that.
• Mickey and Pete - Believe it or not, the guys figure out Fan Tan on the first attempt. They prove that the mellow approach is the best method. All you have to do is just chill and watch. They reach the mat in 6th place.Perhaps Mickey should take his pants off more often.
• Alain and Audrey - They had big problems again on this leg, but make it out of the casino a mere 5 minutes before Sukhi and Jinder.
• Sukhi and Jinder did not have a great leg. They panicked looking for the almond biscuits and panicked again collecting their stamps. At the casino, they totally busted the stress meter. They tried asking everyone for help but were turned down. Rex turns them down flat. Audrey blasts them. They are the last two teams there, and she is not going to help someone that could beat them to the mat. Duh! From what I heard, many of the other teams helped each other, except for Sukhi and Jinder. Quite frankly, I think the other teams sacrificed the siblings to the TAR gods on this leg. They are last at the mat.

They are lucky this time. It is a Non-Elimination leg.....just like I told you it would be. FYI, there are 2 more to come. Check out my preview of Episode 5 BY CLICKING HERE to find out what happens with Sukhi and Jinder, and which teams are on the bubble for elimination. I think everyone is going to try to make a play for that 2nd Express Pass.