Ah, finally...an episode of The Amazing Race: All-Stars without some hokey Detour and Roadblock. Last week we had black-robed Ninjas raining down on teams — without any substantial kung-fu violence — while they were, essentially, scaling 11-story bamboo ladders in Hong Kong. If anyone here had seen Fear Factor one can imagine climbing a gigantic ladder down by some pier in San Pedro harbor — no need to traverse the globe for that. And I'll bet NBC could've hired some roving Ninja-like actors to prance about. That would've spiced things up, or not.

By David W. Taylor (Email The Author)
Reality Reel Media
04.24.07

Yet what was even more bizarre was trekking to exotic, dense, vibrant Hong Kong, and then having teams kicking-in doors of a nondescript, long-dead apartment building to look for Clue Envelopes among the grimy, shantytown ruins. That Roadblock told me absolutely nothing about Hong Kong. It simply told me nothing. Wait...it told me that having a door to protect your domicile in Hong Kong is useless. Dustin or Kandice could bust it down at any moment without much effort. There must be quite a market for big locks or big dogs.

So, thank goodness, once we hit Mainland China, and the city of Macau, this Amazing Race got back on track. We were transported to the 1,109 foot Macau Tower where teams had to traverse the perimeter of the Tower's windy skydeck — taking in a massive 360 of the gray, mist-enshrouded city — and then jump from a ledge. The building was so tall and the view so imposing that even though a Racer's plunge was slowed by the use of a "descender" rigging (this was no bungee jump) the fall was frightful. At lease it stirred the blood. And, per Phil, this was the highest Amazing Race "jump" in its history.

And then it was off to Lou Lim Ioc Garden for the Detour Clue. Both "Noodle" and "Dragon" were culturally apt challenges that immersed one fully in the local flavor.

The "Noodle" task took the prize, though, for one of the most clever Detours ever. Not only was the task a mainstay of the local Chinese business infrastructure but to complete the task the contestants had to use specific tools that were regionally highly traditional. And it wasn't easy. A few teams had to start over. The Hong Kong 11-story ladder bit, in comparison, was a no brainer.

To watch Mirna and Kandice and Eric bounce up-and-down on those long bamboo poles, flattening the noodle dough to just the right texture and width, was intriguing and hilarious. It also took some concentration and finesse, as did slicing through the dough with the noodle hatchet. The Detour made for some great competitive pressures and collapses; and even enabled Eric & Danielle to zip past Charla & Mirna and eventually narrowly escape elimination. (Or if Eric & Danielle had come in last would they have been "Marked For Elimination" yet again?)