End of the Road

What an Adventure . . .



So the last episode is finally upon us (we get some cameos at the end).  I will not provide any spoilers and for those who have actually watched the whole season, I hope you enjoyed it and are as pleased as we were with the winning team.

What a fun ride and although I wish we had made it a little longer or even to the finals, it was still an amazing experience and we are grateful to have been part of this season of the show.

Anything else I might write would not do any justice to the incredible summary and photo-collages that Khai Shing put together here.

For the airing of the Finale, ICS used my hook-up to arrange a party at the Shanghai Brewery.  It was jam-packed and they almost would not let us upstairs even though Jenn, Brandon, and I were on the show!  However, after some smooth talking, the cover was waived and we were greeted by adoring fans.  We were even asked to sign some autographs (4 to be exact).

It was great to see some of the other teams (Trainers, Yelin, Father/Daughter, Harvard, Brandon), the cameramen, production crew, and directors there.  From what I can remember of the night, I had a great time - from pre-gaming at Zapata's with pitchers of margarita, to the Shanghai Brewery Finale party, onto the after-party at Camel Bar, all the way to bowing to the porcelain god.

Episode 7: Swan Song

*SPOILER ALERT* - please watch Episode 7 above before reading below

"Su Chef"

We started off the day in great position.  Despite being on the second bus, we made good time and actually arrived in Nanjing before the first bus.  After we found a taxi, we were quite excited to be headed to the Hilton since we mistakenly thought we might be staying there that night given their sponsorship of the show.  The clue says something about "slice and dice" and at home I am always the sous-chef that helps wash and chop all the vegetables so we decide that I should do it.  Unfortunately, it ends up being a cooking challenge and that is definitely not my forte.  I can barely tell the difference between a cucumber and a zucchini and other than boiling pasta am a pretty slow cook.  Luckily with Jenn's help, I was able to pick the right ingredients and seasoning on my 3rd try and ended up being the first male to complete the challenge.

Famous Historical Nanking

We were very excited to be in the former capital of Imperial China and were looking forward to visiting some of the famous sites such as the City Wall, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, or numerous Temples/Gardens.  Instead we find ourselves at a railway factory and I tried to get excited since I thought we would get to operate some heavy machinery like forklifts and what not but alas we used granny carts to haul scrap metal over a total length of 4.5 miles in a stuffy warehouse wearing thick uncomfortable uniforms.  Jenn tells me that she has a splitting headache (probably a combination of dehydration and lack of circulation in the warehouse) so she balks at running.  Instead we teased the Harvard team on always being so serious and how they should smile more often.

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

As we finished our last lap of transporting scrap metal, we could see the Taiwanese Models working on their task and we were very curious what the 'Screw This' challenge was.  We departed the railway factory at about the same time and made our way to the Zhening Tower.  The Models beat us to the tower but we ran into them outside the elevator.  They gave us some gloomy high-fives and then when we got to the clue box we saw why.  We had been Yielded by the Fiancés!  Well this gave us an excellent opportunity to rest and recuperate since Jenn was still not feeling well and both of us were starving having just walked over 4 miles.  I had spotted a KFC at the base of the tower so I ran back down to buy us a snack.  Our cameraman was also hungry and nobody had gotten an opportunity to eat yet so I bought burgers for everyone.  Once the Yield was done and the hourglass had run out we opened the clue to see what was next.  Uh oh.  We had to spin like astronauts at the University of Aeronautics!  Maybe KFC was not a good idea after all.  Damn you Colonel Sanders and your enticing secret recipe!

Top Gun

It was rush hour in Nanjing so it was very difficult to find a cab.  I suppose this added time helped our digestion since I can almost guarantee I would have thrown up if we had spun immediately.  We finally made it to the University and there was a platoon of soldiers waiting for us.  They strapped us into what looked like giant hamster wheels and started spinning us.  Jenn was laughing so hard and she later tells me that a rock flew into her mouth.  They showed us 10 pictures of different aircraft and we had to identify them out of a total of 20.  Our heads were still spinning so of course we got it wrong.  I was really dreading going back on the wheel but we were determined to complete this challenge and this time we decided to divide & conquer with Jenn memorizing the first 5 pictures and I would take the last 5.  This strategy worked and we got it right the second time.  We do the Top Gun high-five and head to the Danger Zone (ie. Olympic Stadium).

Farewell

We walked to the center of the stadium to meet Allan Wu.  It was an amazing feeling to walk onto the field and it gave us a small impression of what professional athletes enjoy regularly.  Our luck had run out this time and it was NOT a Non-Elimination.  The two of us were proud of our performance and the fact that we made it more than halfway through the Race.  We walked off the field with our heads held high and as we approached the track, the other teams popped out near the stands and started cheering for us.

It was a wild ride but a memorable experience and we have made some lasting friendships with the other contestants.  Since we got our wallets back, we wanted to take everyone out for a nice dinner so we found a restaurant close to the Motel 168 and booked 2 private rooms.  We ordered up a feast that night to go along with the 18 one-liter beers that we finished.  It was a great farewell dinner and everyone had fun.  After we were done, Jenn and I grabbed our huge backpacks and hopped in a taxi to go back to the Hilton.  We went to the front desk, gave them our credit card, and told them to give us whatever room was available.  That might have been the best night's sleep I have ever had and then in the morning we ordered room-service:  breakfast-in-bed.

A final thank you to everyone involved with the Amazing Race China Rush for giving us this opportunity to be a part of this adventure.  To the fans for watching, thank you for your support.  There is so much work that goes into producing a reality TV show and many of them are never seen.  To our cameramen: Paul, Jonas, Sam, Lou, and Jason it was great working with you and we look forward to catching up soon, off-camera of course.  Same for the assistants: Molly, Nikki, Rainbow, Sophie, and Jesse.  For the post-production crew and video editors, it is amazing how you have taken hundreds of hours of raw footage and weaved such entertaining stories every episode.  Congratulations and thank you.

Some people have asked who Jesse Burke is - the one mentioned in the closing credits.  He was one of the Game Producers on the show who tragically died while on another assignment after filming completed for China Rush.  Jesse was hands-down the best Game Producer: organized, transparent, and fair; he will be missed.

Watching the finished product now on TV and having settled back into our normal lives we miss the Race and wished that we had further continued the journey.  However, for us, it was never about winning or losing, more about sharing this incredible experience together and enjoying yet another adventure as a couple.  We tested our limits, visited some interesting, off-the-beaten path places, and met some really great people.  I am proud of Jenn for lasting as long as she did and if we had to do it all over again, I would say "on your mark, get set, GO!"

Episode 6: Deleted Scenes

*SPOILER ALERT* - please watch Episode 6 above before continuing


Homeland

This leg brought us to Huangshan in Anhui.  I was very excited because my mom is originally from this province but I never had the chance to visit.  Having started Leg 1 in Shanxi which is my dad's hometown as well I could now proudly say that I have been to both of my ancestral homes.  Luckily for us, we would not have to scale Yellow Mountain with our heavy packs and we only stopped off at the base entrance to find our first clue.  Actually, Jenn and I were very curious to visit the majestic mountain so we recently went back for a visit.  Pictures are here: Picasa Web Album.  What a huge difference money, credit cards, and leisure time can make!

1, 2, 3. . . 199, 200

When we arrived at the village, it was a total maze.  Every alleyway looked the same but Steven and I worked together to navigate the narrow lanes.  At the counting challenge, the stress of the Race finally got to us.  To our credit, this was the ONLY time where we had a brief chink in our marital armor.  Each giant scroll that we had to count had somewhere between 220 - 280 characters on them and there were 8 huge scrolls.  Perhaps it is my database engineering background that had me immediately dividing them into columns and rows to multiply for the sum but Jenn was counting every single character.  When I delicately and politely tried to persuade her to attempt a different method I was shot down.  Actually she did eventually switch methods and after comparing our notes we were able to clinch the correct total.  Surprisingly, we later found out that the Trainers did in fact count every single character in that room, all 2,421 of them!

"Hairy Tofu, get your Hairy Tofu Here!"

Selling the hairy tofu was one of our favorite tasks to do during our adventure.  We had always wondered what it would be like to work at a food stall and now we had the opportunity to find out.  It might not have been very clear on TV but the hairy tofu was really very hairy and the hair was mold.  Imagine if you left a piece of wet bread out on the counter for a week.  The green and white hairy mold that appears is the same white stuff that covered this mushy stinky tofu.  I cannot fathom anyone eating this let alone enjoying it but fortunately for us, people seemed to be quite excited.

We had such a good time that even after we sold the required amount of 100 RMB worth, we just kept going and cooked up the rest of our supplies to give to some of the children and other passersby.  The one scene I wish had made the final cut was when an older European gentleman was strolling by.  Being an astute salesman, I immediately saw dollar signs and I ask him if he speaks English.  He replies "a little" but tells me he is German.  Bingo.  I took 4 years of German so we chat briefly about how I love Audi's and Jürgen Klinsmann and then I ask him to buy some hairy tofu.  Unfortunately, he says he spent all his RMB and all he has is one Euro.  So then I start asking everyone who will exchange the Euro for RMB and finally another shopkeeper agrees to take it for 10 RMB.  We then joked about the United Nations working together as he politely tried to swallow some of the moldy smelly bowl of pan-fried sludge we sold him.

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

The next day we headed to the 9 Dragon Waterfalls for the Roadblock: who's at the end of their rope?  Well Jenn was pretty exhausted and she was missing the comforts of home so figuratively it made sense for her to take this one.  Strategically, we thought it might have something to do with rock-climbing and since she is an intermediate climber having spent some time in Colorado, we agreed that she would perform the challenge.  Of course it ended up being repelling down the waterfall so if selling the hairy tofu was the funnest task so far, this one was by far the coolest.  It was a long hike up to the pavilion and then an even more treacherous and difficult climb up the muddy path to the top of the falls.  Jenn has no problem coming down the mountain but then when she has to drop into the freezing cold water, she hesitates.  From the rocky shore 50 feet away I could hear her howling once she plunged into the lagoon but we got our clue and were on our way.

We arrived at the rope bridge at the same time as both the Socialites and Fiancés but then it was a foot-race to the Pit Stop.  Jenn was pretty tired from hiking up and down the mountain and her legs could not run any more.  I offered to take her backpack but she wanted to finish on her own terms.  When we arrived to face Allan we were again prepared for the worst and were totally baffled when he tells us we were lucky #7 again.  Allan Wu tells Jenn that she is very hard to read and he cannot tell whether she is disappointed, happy, or relieved but he tells her to get fired up!  加油

Episode V: Hennifer Strikes Back

*SPOILER ALERT* - please watch Episode 5 above before continuing

Betty the Lamb

Another day, another Speed Bump, no problem.  We began dead last at the Pit Start and the clue says we have to make our way to the Ancient water town on Xin Shi.  Jenn and I each flag down a taxi and proceed to quiz them both on our destination.  Having been burned one too many times by cabbies already we both agree that the female driver seems confident in the quickest route and we hop in her car.  We definitely made the right choice because we ended up being the 3rd team to arrive at the water town despite how they may have edited the final cut.

This time we are immediately faced with our Speed Bump and when we saw that it was yet another eating challenge we were both dubious.  One look at that giant plate of steaming snails and my stomach turned.  Being a firm believer of "try something new at least once" we sit down and each pick up one small mollusk.  I reach into my MacGyver fanny pack (these had to be worn at all times) and found some toothpicks that I had stashed away.  We manage to fish out the "meat" and chew hesitantly.  Jenn winces loudly and then spits out a pebble the size of a Tic Tac.  We tried our best and managed to get through about 5 of the slimy critters each but the pile of rocks we were building was almost as big as the shells.  I'm sure it's a delicacy but we could smell the river when we walked into the town, saw the dead fish, witnessed the dirty dishes being washed in the waterways, and noticed the chickens/livestock wading in the water.  The restaurant worker admitted that the snails were not washed and there is only so much that soy sauce can mask.  Contact me privately if you want to know what became of the plate of salty rocks.  I can tell you but then I'll have to kill you  ;-)

The next task was very fun and creative.  We stupidly chose the fattest sheep so she would barely move and I had to carry her into the boat almost risking a Grandpa-Ryan-like moment of throwing out my back.  Luckily I remembered to lift with my legs and we got Betty the Lamb into the canoe.  We observed the Fiancés lamb take a nose-dive so our strategy was for me to hold down fidgety Betty while Jenn rowed.  Fortunately, Jenn spent a year doing crew and she had also participated in Dragon Boat racing in NYC so we finished that task quickly.  We were on our way to the resort in 3rd place and we swapped cabs yet another time because one driver admitted that he did not know the way.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

We arrived at the resort at the same time as the BBQ Cousins and began searching the ground for the right pool.  Luckily we thoroughly explored the area because Xiao Bing and I were prepared to jump into this dark murky pool to see if the clues were hidden on the deep end.  Instead Jenn spies a kayak in the wading pool and I jump into the boat to retrieve the clue.

The choice to head up to the bamboo forest was made because we were concerned about going head-to-head with the all male teams in a physical challenge.  After we climbed into the hills, Jenn's eagle eyes spotted a clue high up in the trees and we brainstormed on how we could get it down.  Nobody told us there were axes further up the slope so I pull out my Swiss Army knife to try to saw through the bamboo, no dice.  I shake the trunk as hard as I can but the clue is securely tied up there.  I try to climb up but it is so dirty and slippery that I can barely get off the ground.  Finally from another part of the forest we hear chopping sounds and spot the Trainers wielding an ax.  They point us towards the hatchets so I run up to retrieve one and then start slashing the bamboo with all my might.

Bubbles in the Brain

So we were on our way to the reservoir and had made a significant comeback from 8th to 3rd.  Unfortunately our good taxi karma was about to run out.  Our driver knew how to get to the resort but he had no idea where the reservoir was.  We circle around the mountains for 30 minutes and finally pass the Fiancés and Socialites on the road.  Nobody knew how to find the reservoir.  At one point, we were a bumbling congo line of taxis heading up the mountain but I really doubted the reservoir was any higher up.  We finally found a local who knew the area and he gave us directions.

When we finally arrived to do our scuba diving, we had already dropped several places.  It just so happened that I have my scuba diving license and although I have never gone since my open-water dive 12 years ago, the little piece of plastic sitting in storage back in NJ gave me the confidence to breeze through this challenge and find the sword at the bottom of the reservoir in no time.

We needed a Light Saber

Another taxi snafu cost us a few places but we made it to the Sword Pond in one piece.  Unfortunately, the hike down went on forever.  Going to the pond was fine but we dreaded the return hike up the steep stairs and our bags seemed to get heavier with each additional step.  By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain it was dark out and we could barely see what we were doing.  Luckily we had packed a headlamp so this helped even though Jenn looked like Inspector Gadget.  We huffed and puffed our way back up the mountain with our heavy packs and finished in 5th place for the 5th Episode.  Yes!  :-)

Big congratulations to the Twincredibles on their first place finish and really unfortunate that their prize was for a destination about an hour away from their tropical hometown.  It would be like if we were back home and won a trip to the Jersey Shore - whoop-dee-doo.  BUT we would gladly take those Phuket tickets off your hands . . . ha ha ha.

Episode IV: A New Hope

Part I:  "Dude, where's my Pinghu?" 

Wow, what a roller-coaster ride.  We started this leg off on the wrong foot, in fact we nearly started it in the wrong city!  So we took a flight back to Shanghai and the clue directed us to Pinghu, a town that nobody had ever heard of.  The race began rather frantically and even the cameramen were not aware that we would begin the race that night as soon as we got our backpacks from the baggage claim.  This would come back to haunt us later in our crazed attempt to reach the ancestral home of Jeremy Lin's grandmother.

The leg money for this portion of the race was 300 RMB.  Our first instinct was to try to take a taxi directly there so we exited the airport and I jumped over the barriers and skipped the long queue to ask a cabbie how much it would be and he quoted me 800 RMB.  Ok that was way over our budget so we had to resort to walking to the train station to try and find a cheaper alternative.  As we waited for the security screening we were relieved to see the Taiwanese Models and the Trainers in line in front of us.  We cleared the metal detectors and headed for the automatic ticket machines.  After a few touches of the screen we soon discovered that the last train to Pinghu was over an hour ago.  We then turn around to try to see what the other two teams were doing and to our dismay there was no sign of them. 

The next stop was the Information Desk and we ask the young teller what would be the best method to travel to Pinghu.  She replied with the Chinese equivalent of "Ping what?" and pulls out this massive book which looks like a Yellow Pages ate an Atlas and starts flipping through these massive pages and then tells us that the next train to Pinghu was tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM.  One thing that you need to understand about China is that folks in the service profession are generally not so helpful and they will only answer a specific question posed directly to them.  This exchange was like a root canal and we finally discerned that there *might* be a long-distance bus that could take us there but the last one was *probably* at 9 PM which only allowed us about 5 minutes to get to the bus depot, figure out where to buy tickets and get on the bus in time.  We ruled this out as well and by this point we had attracted quite a little crowd with our rugged German cameraman Jonas standing behind us with his mini flood-light illuminating these two loud panicked Americans.

One particular gentleman steps up and tells us confidently that he knows how we can get to Pinghu.  He walks us to the ticket window and advises us to buy high-speed train tickets to Hangzhou (about 110 miles from Shanghai) and from there we could take a taxi to get us to Pinghu.  He shows us his ticket and tells us that he will also be on the same train to lend some validation.  After asking a few other bystanders they all agree that Hangzhou is the only option so we proceed to purchase the train tickets.  When the attendant asks for all of our passports, our cameraman starts cursing because he does not have any of his documents since he did not think we would start racing at 8 PM upon landing in Shanghai.  We start arguing with the clerk and the camera assistant busts out her press credentials and starts yelling that we are filming a TV show.  In hindsight, I suppose this should have raised some red flags that a train was not the expected route but we felt like we were really out of options at that point.  When the teller finally agreed to sell us 4 tickets and it was 75 RMB each using up ALL of our leg money, we probably should have regrouped but the race adrenaline had me blindly focused on progressing forward so I handed over all of our money.

At this point, Jenn is in full-on panic mode.  We have no money, no cell phones, no credit cards and we were about to board a train to a city which may or may not get us closer to our final destination.  I was still confident that we could figure something out or perhaps talk our way to a free ride so we went down to the tracks to board our train.  As we were looking for our train car number Jenn overhears a group of people talking about Pinghu.  They must have seen our ordeal upstairs and Jenn jumps inside their circle and asks them if they know how to get to Pinghu.  These 4 nice people renewed my faith in the Chinese people as they asked what we were filming and it turned out they were big fans of the Amazing Race.  We explained our predicament and they confirm that we could take a taxi from Hangzhou to Pinghu.  However, our major obstacle at that point was that we were bankrupt and the nice woman, Sophie, asks if she is allowed to give us money.  The Race Rules clearly stipulated that we could not beg for money UNLESS we were out of funds and there was no other choice.  This obviously met the criteria and we gratefully accepted her help.  She opens her wallet and starts counting bills.  Her friend Kevin confirms that 600 RMB (~$ 95 USD) should be more than enough to get us to Pinghu and she hands us the stack of cash.  I insist on exchanging business cards with her and promise to pay her back once we returned to Shanghai.  (Note: I wired her the funds once we were home and recovered)

Sophie and Kevin tell us that they will meet us on the platform once we arrive and they will help us arrange a taxi to take us to our final destination.  With our coffers replenished, we thanked God for this blessing, and made our way to our assigned seats.  The high-speed train was very nice (akin to the bullet trains in Japan) and we all relaxed a little as we sped towards the next stop in the race.  Thirty minutes later Kevin comes rushing down the aisle and says in Chinese "thank goodness I found you" (uh oh).  He explains that there is one stop before Hangzhou (C) called Yuhang (B) which is even closer to Pinghu (D) and we should get off at that stop instead.  We did not have time to ask for more details since the train was already slowing down and Yuhang was the next stop.  I trusted Kevin and after all they had funded the next portion of our trip so we grabbed our bags and hopped off the train.

At this point it is about 10:30 pm and the station is absolutely deserted.  We find one cab around the corner but he tells us that his battery is dead so we would have to help push the taxi to get it started.  We were desperate so we agreed and once the car was moving we ask him how long it will take to get to Pinghu.  When he tells us 2 hours, our hearts sank.  We thought it would be maybe 20 minutes away and had entertained some fantasies that we might have jumped from last place to maybe the top 5 with our creative travel plans.  When we finally arrived at 1 AM to receive the next clue we were still in dead-last 8th place, ugh.  We found out the next day that most of the other teams had gone to the train station and from that taxi stand the cabs were willing to go for 300 RMB.  I'm still perplexed as to why the airport taxi's would try to gouge passengers but in the end we were no worse off than when we had started.  In 5 hours it would be the beginning of a new race day and we would need to draw some Linspiration to compete fiercely and try to stage a comeback.  Read on below for Part II of our Pinghu Pitfalls.

Episode 4: Part II

*SPOILER ALERT* - watch Episode 4 above before reading on

Do the Right Thing

In the morning, we were back at the park for the Pit Start.  The first challenge was an intersection so we had to pair up with another team.  Luckily it was basketball and once Yelin told me that he plays every weekend, I knew this would be easy.  We had 6 minutes to finish an abbreviated round of H-O-R-S-E (technically H.O.R. since it was only 3 shots) and we could see several other teams waiting as they endured a penalty.  We started off strong and were making good time but then Jenn hit a snag on the free throw shot.  She was quite nervous and getting frustrated as she tried to use pure arm strength to muscle the ball to the rim.  Instead, I told her to try a granny shot and throw it underhand and she got a swish on her first try!  Last up was me and my adrenaline was going warp speed at this point like most of our local taxi drivers.  Anyone in our foursome could take the final 3-pointer and originally we had agreed Zhang Yelin would take it since he played basketball so frequently but after I drained the free throw, I felt like I had hot hands.  They did not show my first attempt which bounced off the rim but as soon as my second try left my fingers I knew it was good.  We ended up being the only team who completed that challenge on the first attempt and this gave us a much needed boost in confidence.

As we left the school, we got separated from the Fiancés and we did not know where they wandered off to.  We made it back to the main entrance and the road was deserted.  One taxi was waiting and we asked him to take us to the farm.  He said that the other couple had reserved him and told him to wait.  While Jenn and I considered our options, we ultimately decided to hike down the road to try to find another cab rather than being underhanded and steal their taxi.

"Hello Rope & Bamboo: We Meet Again"

Luckily about 10 minutes later we were able to flag down a passing taxi and we were on our way to make a scarecrow.  We arrived at the farm to a hectic scene.  The Twins were carrying this massive bamboo/straw body into the fields and a cool helicopter cam was whizzing around above us.  After my Episode 1 fiasco with tying knots on bamboo, I was determined to do this quickly.  Fortunately, this time we were able to work together and we quickly constructed our straw man making doubly sure that all the knots were extra secure.  After the race had concluded we heard about the taxi stealing incident and rightfully so, the BBQ Cousins and the Twins were very annoyed.  Either one of them would have almost certainly won this leg instead and we were disappointed to learn that Team Harvard would have stooped so low.  When we watched the show, we thought it was interesting how they justify that their victims could simply steal the next team's taxi.  Before Jennifer and I agreed to participate on the show, we had made a pact that we would not stab anyone in the back and we would NOT let the show make us contemptible.

Cabbie Catastrophe

  The Mo Mansion was massive but while we were searching the grounds Jenn luckily spotted one of the production assistants on the second floor.  We immediately found the staircase and then made our way to find the next clue.  We were still not completely recovered from the kimchee so we decided to do the Chess showdown.  About an hour later we were back at the farmlands from the Scarecrow task and the driver pulls into an abandoned warehouse.  This did not look right.  He steps out of the car and starts walking around.  We finally encounter an old grandma in her pajamas who looks like a Chinese Gloria Stuart (Rose) from the Titanic and he asks her for directions!?  Ok, this was definitely not good.  We start arguing with the driver and he tries to call 411 and then his dispatcher.  Incredibly, nobody knows where this Chess School is so we drive back into town.  We stop two other taxis and both of them also shrug their shoulders, take a puff on their cigarettes, and offer no help.  Finally, we pull up next to another taxi and we ask Dumb & Dumber if they know where the restaurant was for the other Detour.  They confer and acknowledge unconvincingly that they know how to get to the restaurant.  At this point we had wasted an hour and a half and we were out of options.  Thankfully he finds the restaurant and asks us if we want him to wait - yeah right!  I cannot remember if I paid him the full fare but I certainly hope not since he took us on a scenic tour of Pinghu and probably secured us a last-place finish.

"I would rather eat kimchee"

As expected, we were the last ones at the restaurant and so we had no idea what to expect.  The first part required patience and precision.  Unfortunately not a great combination for Jenn as these delicate duck eggs required us to gently crack the shells with soft taps from a chopstick.  While I was waiting for Jenn to finish her 5 eggs, I was chatting with the chef about these pungent delicacies.  He admitted that he did not like to eat them and then laughs as he tells me that usually one egg would last a family of 6 a full week as they slowly add small amounts to their congee.  Wonderful.

After Jenn's eggs passed inspection he scoops out one egg each for us.  The smell itself was revolting like an animal had died in a vat of cheap gin.  The egg itself looked like a ball of mozzarella cheese soaked in urine.  Before I bit into this horrible culinary monstrosity I dug out the aromatherapy clips that I had packed with us.  This was a new fad in Shanghai that had appeared recently and they made dispensers for energy, for calm, and for sleeping.  We had brought one of each just-in-case and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to try the "calming" one (right).

Although in the Episode it might look like I have boogers coming out of my nose, I assure you it was this Nasaroma clip in our desperate attempt to cover up the smell of these fermented alcoholic duck eggs.  For me, I poked a hole in the embryonic sac and essentially squeezed out all the contents into my mouth and then did my best to swallow it without chewing or tasting anything.  Unfortunately, it was a big egg and I had to bite into it and the disgusting combination of rice wine and salty yolk exploded in my mouth.  As my eyes were watering, I forced myself to swallow the soft salty slime.  Luckily I was done in two mouthfuls but Jenn took a different approach and tried to bite the egg itself.  This only prolonged her suffering and she had the added foulness of pulling the rubbery embryonic sac out of her mouth since it was too tough to chew.  She also ended up with some of the soupy mess on her plate so she had to shovel it into her mouth to finish the egg.  If given the choice, I would gladly eat another 1.5 kilos of kimchi versus seeing another one of these eggs ever again.

比伯高热 (Bieber Fever in Chinese)

Our final stop was an elementary school and when the Road Block says "Who can carry a tune?" we know it has to be me.  That is not saying much since I am pretty tone-deaf too but compared to Jenn, my one verse of Extreme's "More Than Words" that I can play on the guitar was light years ahead of her.  When we walked upstairs we were very surprised to see the Trainers still there and they tell us it took them two hours - whoa.  Upon entering the classroom, there were still quite a few teams there so I thought that maybe we still had a chance to recover from our earlier taxi delay and simultaneously I was also thinking that this challenge must be pretty hard.  After studying the teacher intently, I went over to the little girl judge and she promptly gives me a "No!".  No pointers or elaboration so I go back to the drawing board to perfect my pipa.  This time rather than relying on my useless ears, I focus on the notes (strings + struts) on the whiteboard and try to memorize them.  Jenn keeps telling me it sounds good so with a false sense of confidence I stroll over to the girl judge again and she rejects me.  My head (and stomach) were still swimming from the drunken duck egg so this time I write down the notes on my hand rather than relying on my fuzzy brain and luckily I play all the notes right - woohoo!  (16-14-17-12  16-14-16-17)

We were clearly the last team so we hung around the classroom a bit chatting with all the school-children.  They had been there all day sitting in that classroom so they were eager to ask about the show and learn more about us.  We posed for some pictures and it was Bieber-like to have a crowd of cheering girls seeing us off as we departed for the Pit Stop.

Jenn and I were ready to go home and supposedly it would have been just a quick cab ride away.  Our interview was quite long and Jenn goes into a long soliloquy about being tired mentally and physically and how she misses Calvin (dog) who was being boarded back home.  Allan says to us "sorry guys but you will have to stay to compete in another round" but the final edit is a strange choppy mash-up of his quotes.  I was still ready to fight on but Jenn was slowly losing interest in the crummy hotels, insufficient nutrition, and disorganization.  That night we treated ourselves to Pizza Hut for dinner thanks to our donation from Sophie the night before.

One of our favorite parts of this episode.  Sibling love. 

WORST Quote: "It diffuses the area in which it receives it" 

Episode 3: Backstage

*SPOILER ALERT* - watch Episode 3 above before reading on

Say 'Ni Hao' to Kim Jong-un

Another early start for us.  We were checked out of the hotel by 6:30 AM and both Jenn and I wore our glasses since we thought it would be a Travel Day again.  Unfortunately we were wrong and after a quick 6 hour bus ride we had arrived on the border of North Korea.  One funny bus anecdote as we were always with the Socialites in the back of the bus.  They were re-reading the clue and trying to figure out what autonomy meant as in "Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture".  Janelle was like "I think it has something to do with the body" and I told her that was anatomy.  Then Karin says, "doesn't it have to do with the moon or stars?" so I answered with astronomy.  Note: autonomy = independence or freedom; autonomous = self-government.  It's ok though because English is Karin's second language.

So the race started and unfortunately neither of us knew Korean so we were totally out of our element trying to read the clue.  We asked a passerby to help us decode the Korean hanja characters and he told us to head to the elementary school.  Our taxi driver, Xiao Zhao was really friendly and he had heard of the show and kept turning around to wave at the camera.  That was cute until he almost had a head-on collision.  The editing was again quite aggressive in Episode 3 because that Korean bowing challenge really stumped Jenn.  We took 3 penalties attempting it and eventually we had to go back in the hallway to the giant posters that the Taiwanese Models commented on in the Episode to give Jenn a refresher.  We finally passed the test and decided to skip the Fast Forward since we assumed one of the earlier teams would have gone for it.

On our way to the Detour our cab driver got totally lost and he dropped us off at some restaurant on the other side of the village.  We busted into this really local joint which only had 1 round table and scared the bejesus out of the patrons as we frantically asked them where the challenge was.  Just imagine two lous Americans carrying humongous backpacks interrupting your meal trailed by a foreigner wielding a bulky professional video camera.  I would like to apologize to the people of the Korean Folk Village for our rudeness.  It was our cabbie who eventually came back and found us and told us he brought us to the wrong place, ahhh, Xiao Zhao - killing me!

Kimchee Calamity

When we finally arrived to eat the kimchi we were pretty nervous that we might have been the last team.  Remember, it was a Detour so we had no idea how many people went to try the Pot Luck balancing act.  Before we even walked into the room, we saw Wei Wei standing outside hurling everywhere tears running down his cheeks.  Oh great, the super soldier could not even handle this, how are we going to finish?  Once we entered the room, things got worse.  Lee Yang and Christine were both crying and the smell was just awful.  We put on the plastic gloves and dug in.  Jenn was doing quite well in the beginning.  She likes kimchi (in moderation) whereas I have a notoriously sensitive stomach and don't really like Korean food to begin with.  I could not force myself to chew that cabbage so I would rip off small pieces, wipe away as much of the sour spicy orange sauce as possible and swallow it whole like a vitamin.  We were making good progress for about an hour and then it finally hit us.  My fingers all of a sudden got numb and my hands started shaking.  Jenn tells me she's about to lose it and I tell her to just throw up if she has to, no point in either of us seriously damaging our health with an overdose of kimchi.  She moves to the window to get some air hugging a garbage can and promptly vomits.

So we had a 20 minute penalty and still had at least a third of the 1.5 kilos of cabbage to finish.   We pretty much assumed we would be going home that day but right when we were ready to call it quits, in walks the Father/Daughter team.  They tell us that they tried the Fast Forward but were too late.  With our chances of survival renewed, Jenn hurried back to polish off her kimchi and she asked whether she could go throw up again.  The Game Producer told us that until both team members were done, each vomit incurred a cumulative penalty of 20 minutes.  So she had to wait for me but at this point the cabbage was screaming to be released from my bowels.  After some rule clarifications, we determined that going to the bathroom was legit so I ran to the restroom to unload much to the horror of our cameraman who had to listen to the whole thing as my mic was still on (sorry Sam).  After about 10 minutes, I come back and the father was already done.  Luckily for us the daughter looked liked she was struggling and when she puked I was relieved and felt like we had a 50/50 chance of not being eliminated.  But timing be damned once I finally finished my cabbage I had to make another emergency toilet run while Jenn proceeded to throw up 5 more times outside.

The Aftermath

The rest of that day was a bit of a blur.  My stomach hurts just thinking about it and it took all my strength not to poo my pants.  This made me quite unhappy the rest of the day especially when I learned we had to ride a giant swing.  Originally we thought since I was taller I had a better chance of hitting those bells but we quickly realized it was much more important to have the stronger person on the ground.  When the next clue took us to a cold noodle shop I told Jenn that if I had to eat anything else my intestines might explode.  Thankfully it was not another eating challenge but you may have noticed in the show that we were running around the kitchen like headless chickens and could not find the clue.  But for Team Harvard the chef practically presents it to them, again, white nepotism - darn it!

When we get to the Exhibition Hall, it was pitch black inside and we had to find our way to the main stage on the 3rd floor.  We knew we were in the bottom 2 and the Father/Daughter could very well have passed us in their taxi given our impediment searching for the clue.  We finally find the Pit Stop and Allan Wu tells us we were 8th.  Quick high five and he starts to ask us about the day and I politely interrupt him and say, "sorry Allan but I really need to go to the bathroom".  He is caught off guard and asks me, "one or two".  I grimace and hold up 2 fingers and he understands so we cut the interview short and I rush off to find the restroom.  The entire floor had its lights turned off on purpose and since 1 more team still had to check-in, they could not turn them on for me.   A nice camera assistant took pity on me and let me use her iPhone as a source of light while I crouched in the stall.  Those toilet torpedoes were only a precursor to the full-on war that my stomach would wage with the bathroom that night.  When I was done, we had to wait outside because the Father/Daughter team had arrived and they were filming their elimination interview.  Once they were finished, they asked us to do another take of our Pit Stop even though I thought it would have been really funny to use the original one but I guess toilet humor is too base for China Rush.

For supper we only ate white rice and it was like some cruel joke that the dinner boxes contained more kimchi.  I went to the bathroom at least 7 more times throughout the night.  Let me just say that the hot shower that night was one of the most painful experiences ever.  To this day we have yet to touch kimchi again.

For more stories check out Khai Shing's blog here.  Major props for completing the Pot Luck balancing act!

Episode 2: Behind-the-Scenes

*SPOILER ALERT* - please click above to watch Episode 2 before reading 

From Russia with Love

Taxis can make or break you on the Race.  After we got the clue to head for the Sino-Russian Exhibition Hall, they totally cut our 1 hour ordeal to arrive at our destination.  Although we had the address in Chinese and showed the driver, he took us to the wrong building on the opposite side of town.  He then asked 3 other taxi drivers for directions to no avail and finally we had to switch taxis after we finally found someone who assured us he knew where to go.  Although it might have seemed quirky and fun on TV, the Russian Doll Game was a complete circus for the contestants.  Luckily, Jenn just stormed in and found a doll which just happened to contain 10 pieces so we immediately headed for the curator.  While waiting outside his office, the neighbors appeared and Brandon eloquently posed the question, "what the f*ck is going on here?".  We explained to them to just find 10 dolls of the same color making sure not to miss the final piece which was the size of a pencil eraser.  After that it was smooth sailing for us.  The Speed Bump was awesome cause our picture was up on a giant billboard and it was the first time anyone had seen any of their studio portraits.  Chopping wood was also fun and it was the first time Jenn or I had ever tried that outdoor activity.  The final misleading edit came during the military bed-making.  I bring this up only because it was all over the Chinese blogosphere (Weibo - like a Twitter/Facebook hybrid) about how we must have bribed the soldier to pass us.  The clip shows Jenn with a pretty messy blanket and then they cut to our final approval.  She was actually denied at least 3 times before we were granted permission to leave at last and her blanket was no worse than any other teams.  In fact we found out later that the Harvard team were passed on their second try even though their blanket looked like a typhoon had hit the barracks.  When asked why, the soldier said he was being nice to the white foreigner - messed up!  Maybe if Nick had done the challenge they might have knocked out the Socialites.  All in all we were still happy to have come back from last place to lucky number 7.

Suifenhe Sendoff
After the adrenaline subsided, both of us were quite sad to have to bid adieu to Nick and Brandon.  Although they talked tons of subtle sarcastic trash in all their interviews, the truth was that those two Thundercats & Spartacus-loving guys were constant comic relief.  We remain close friends and will cherish the wild blowout we had at Club MAKIM on the edge of Russia.  Since they got their phones and wallets back, we got to enjoy a night out with a bottle of Smirnoff and a surprise rendezvous with the Slavic clue girl from the train station.  It turns out she was one of the "dancers" at this club, go figure.  Before the neighbors headed to the airport, they gave us their remaining supply of hand warmers, chewing gum, and Cottonelle wet wipes.  They made us promise them that we would continue competing and make it as far as possible despite the debilitating race conditions.  Message received - das vedanya comrades.

My favorite part of Episode 2:  "Wait, wait, listen".  For more behind-the-scenes check out Khai Shing's blog  

Episode 1: Commentary

SPOILER ALERT - if you have not seen Episode 1 yet please click above

Behind-the-Scenes

Hope you enjoyed the first episode.  We were both very impressed with how it was edited, of course we also had to relive the embarrassment of literally and figuratively unraveling to end up in last place.  I can already hear the ridicule but in my defense, I was never in the boy scouts, my work area was uneven so the bamboo supports kept sliding, and I was too pumped with adrenaline to realize that the ropes were of different lengths.

Excuses aside, we survived and it worked out in our favor because we got a lot of airtime in Episode 1!  There were several story-lines (and behind-the-scenes action) which did not make the final edit and since there was little else for us to do during our off-days I wrote copiously in my little journal that I packed.

Opening Sequence
     We climb aboard the logo bus at 5:20 AM and once inside find that all the windows are blacked out so that you cannot see where you are going.  Clutching our giant 25 pound backpacks we sat in the dark on what felt like a massive rolling casket as we proceeded to the Race Start.  We were forbidden from speaking to any of the teams so everyone just eyed each other suspiciously trying to identify the weak links and contenders. 

     The Amazing Race bus came to a halt and we were instructed to sit tight and stay silent.  After an hour, we were allowed to disembark and discovered that we were still in Shanghai at the historic Bund.  They had closed off a section of the iconic riverside for filming and initially this was very exciting but we ended up being there for over 10 hours!  The camera-mounted remote-controlled helicopter was really cool but by 3 PM most of us figured that the real Race would not start on this day.  We had been baking in the sun with barely any food provided but we were thrown for a loop when the host Allan Wu told us that we would be starting shortly and this season there was a slight twist: 1 team would be eliminated after the first challenge.

     Hold up, what?  We were a 15 minute taxi ride away from our apartment.  It would be mortifying to get sent home before even leaving Shanghai.  While we were still reeling from the announcement 11 cameramen and assistants materialized to fasten on microphones and provide quick instructions.  Jenn was still in shock but I looked over at the Malaysian twins next to us and Khai Sheng's eyes met mine.  He asked me if I wanted to form an alliance and I extended my hand to shake on it.  After the challenge was explained to us we agreed that if either team found the right flag we would help the other.

The Race Begins
     This time when Allan Wu said "Go" it was for real.  I held back from running to the front and let 2 other teams go ahead of me making a mental note of which flags they chose.  I randomly selected a different one and ran back to Allan.  All 3 were wrong, ok 7 choices left.  As I waited for Jenn to catch up, I lingered by the judge to watch the other teams.  Surprisingly, the Taiwanese Models got it right on the 1st try and before they took away the flag, I caught a glimpse of the Chinese character and sprinted back to find the matching glyph.  That character is still burned into my memory and I immediately found it.  Jenn was still lagging behind so I looked around for the Malaysian twins.  As we headed back towards Allan, I spotted Khai Sheng and told him to look at my flag and memorize it.  We ran back to the judge and were rewarded with 1 of the coveted passes for the 1st bus comfortably in 2nd place.

     From that point on, both of us were fully energized and in race mode.  Little did we know that the bus ride would end up being 16 hours long!  They didn't tell us anything so we thought the bus could stop any moment and we would have to continue the race.  Remember that the windows were completely blacked out so we had no idea where we were.  Eventually we risked small naps here and there but there were so many toll booth stops that we constantly awoke with any sudden jolt.  By 1 AM we assumed it would be too cruel to do anything else so we tried our best to settle in on the uncomfortable bus.  There was no bathroom on-board so I had to improvise with a water bottle and I told Jenn not to touch the "lemonade" container.

     At 6 AM the morning after we had begun this adventure, the bus finally came to a stop.  We were parked on the side of the road in front of a toll booth and told that we had 20 minutes to get ready.  The ladies ran behind bushes to relieve themselves and others dug out their toothbrushes and made do with bottled water.  The toll indicated that we were in Shanxi province, 4 provinces (States) away from Shanghai.  After we did a microphone check, we boarded the bus again and they instructed us the next stop would be the continuation of the Race.

Monkey Mountain
     Since we presented an interesting story for TV they aired most of our adventure on that first leg of our journey.  We arrived to the final Road Block challenge in first place thanks to our speedy taxi driver with the Trainers hot on our heels.  They don't tell you what the challenge is but simply present some type of riddle: "who wants to monkey around?".  We interpreted this to mean something to do with monkey bars or some physical challenge so of course I chivalrously volunteered.  When we received further instructions and I saw the sample bamboo swing I set aside my worries and doubts and focused on building this thing.  Jenn went to the bathroom and then rummaged through our packs to find a snack.

     The Road Block stipulates that only 1 person can participate and the partner can only offer advice but with Wei Wei, the super-soldier, right behind me building the legs for his swing under the tutelage of his mentor, a ropes course owner/instructor, I was getting frazzled.  Then I hear a loud shriek from my wife and I look down to see 3 monkeys on her back.  She had returned with a bag of trail mix but had under-estimated the aggressiveness of the hungry monkeys.  To help appease them and aggravate the contestants, crew members were also throwing peanuts into our work areas so monkeys were constantly darting to and fro looking for snacks.

     The rest is reality TV history.  I eventually did manage to build the stupid monkey swing.  Jenn noticed that all the other teams had used large rocks to help prop up the leg supports so once we had a stable foundation, I was able to complete the challenge inspired by her words of encouragement.  As we made our way to the Pit Stop, we trudged along silently and I muttered a simple "I'm sorry".  Jenn's tears on the mat almost ensured our 15 minutes of fame and we were both relieved beyond words that it was a Non-Elimination round.  Stay tuned to see what happens next!

Image courtesy of Khai Shing

Countdown

We just attended the Amazing Race China Rush Press Conference and got a preview of Episode 1.  It looks fantastic and renewed our excitement over the show as we got a chance to relive our experience.

As another teaser, here is a behind-the-scenes video that one of the contestant handlers had shot of our opening sequence.  The Olympics may be over but the Amazing Race China Rush is only just beginning!

A reporter from CNN International was also there and wrote this story on the show:  http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/amazing-race-travel-real-china-576-minutes-085625

Intro Sequence (Season 3)

The TV studio has released a 45-second teaser video for Amazing Race China Rush Season 3.  我很兴奋

This Land is Your Land

Happy Fourth of July to all. Although I am over 7200 miles away, I did manage to celebrate the 4th with sliders, curly fries, and Coronas (sorry I would rather drink Tsingtao than Budweiser) here in Shanghai at an American bar called Blue Frog.

It was so great to see some of you last week when I was in town. Today marks the one year anniversary of us packing up and moving halfway across the world. Oh how time flies.

 It was a bit surreal to be back in New York: the Freedom Tower is already higher than the Empire State Building, a Shake Shack opened up in Battery Park now, and beautiful clear blue skies almost every day. I found myself just aimlessly wandering the streets taking in the unique sights and smells of Manhattan. The new REI store in SoHo was a pleasant find and I noticed that my shopping habits have changed as I obsessively look for things NOT made in China. At Old Navy I found some nice 4th of July USA t-shirts: Made in Bangladesh, perfect (and ironic).

The other thing that amazed me was the diversity of the people back in the States. A simple subway ride was a melting pot of ethnic groups. The assortment of races and sizes of people was refreshing. On the one hand, I felt much better about the few pounds I have put on in my lazy pursuit of exercise in the face of the many compatriots who clearly had enjoyed one too many super-sized value meals. On the other hand, I was obviously back to being on the lower end of the average height spectrum as I found myself craning my neck just to look up at teenagers. I was so engrossed in people-watching that I missed my stop on the subway and ended up in Brooklyn one night!

Many folks asked me what I missed most being in a land far, far away and I would say that one of the top absences is the strong sports culture. The time zone difference makes it very difficult here but the timing of the trip was perfect for me. I was able to watch the NBA Finals (although game 5 was incredibly disappointing), U.S. Open (golf), the Euro 2012 quarter + semi-finals, Subway Series, and the beginning of Wimbledon all during a normal time of day in crystal clear HD.

Some things did remain the same and the nostalgia was invigorating. Seeing the same cheery lady at the fruit cart stand outside New York Plaza brought a smile to my face and going back to the 9th floor office was like walking into the house you grew up in. Seeing all the familiar faces, catching up with colleagues, and having tea in the pantry area was wonderful. To emphasize how quickly time passes, I passed one person in the hall who casually said "hello" and then did a triple-take before asking whether I was still living in Shanghai since it seemed like only yesterday that NY was my base camp.

Apologies for the long hiatus and for the fact that this posting does not have much about life in China. To be honest, with one year under our belt now things have gotten pretty normal here or perhaps it is because we have been away from the US for awhile so things seem less different and weird. We have also been quite busy this year with a string of visitors and we also took some time off to film a reality television series. There is a bilingual version of the Amazing Race which has been officially licensed from ABC-Disney and they filmed their third season earlier this year. Jenn and I were cast to be on the show beating out 1200 other contestants. They have just begun their marketing campaign and here is one of the promotional posters: http://www.chinarush.cn/ (best viewed in IE - don't get me started)

One final note that became glaringly evident upon return to America was the stark difference in internet freedom. As my subject alluded to and in a shout-out to the Google Fourth of July doodle and their Take Action campaign, I cannot stress how unbelievably frustrating it is to have many common web-sites blocked. As with most things in life, you truly do appreciate things once they have been taken away from you.

Are you Ready?

So we were cast in Season 3 of the Amazing Race China Rush.  This is the bilingual China version of the officially licensed ABC hit reality television series. It will air in China, Malaysia, and Taiwan on August 26 and will be available for viewing in the US via satellite dish if you have a Chinese network programming package or online via the ICS web-site and YouTube of course. For a preview you can check-out Season 2 episodes here: http://www.chinarush.cn/season2/en/

MIA

I will be on hiatus for awhile . . . be back soon.