The Amazing Race Episode 17.10 I Hate Chinese Food (Hong Kong)

After falling behind early, dating couple Nick & Vicki battled back to catch up at a gut-busting Roadblock where Vicki struggled but refused to give up. However, at the Detour, Nick convinced Vicki to take the 6-hour penalty before the couple finished in last place.

THE CONFRONTATION

Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 8:25am, dating couple Jill & Thomas ripped open their clue instructing them to fly nearly 3,500 miles to ultra-modern urban jungle of Hong Kong. When they landed, they had to make their way by bus and ferry to Cheung Chau Island and search for the Cheung Po Tsai Cave for their next clue.

Trying to extend their huge lead over the other teams, Jill & Thomas walked into a travel agency only to discover that the first flight to Hong Kong wouldn't depart until 11:55pm that evening. The disappointed couple knew all the teams would have plenty of time to make that flight. Returning to the hotel until the evening, Jill & Thomas had their fingers crossed that they wouldn't see their U-Turn victims, Brook & Claire.

As the sun set over Dhaka, doctors Nat & Kat, dating couple Nick & Vicki, and Brook & Claire all gathered at the airport where the home shopping hosts excitedly awaited the arrival of Jill & Thomas. When the dating couple walked through the doors, they quickly spotted Brook & Claire and sheepishly walked up to apologize for U-Turning them. Thomas said, "Sorry. Hope you don't take it personally. We thought you were the strongest team." Brook & Claire countered that Nat & Kat had won more legs, but Thomas argued that the doctors also had nearly been eliminated. Thomas added, "You guys are way more competitive than them. You should almost take it as a compliment." When Brook & Claire squarely placed the blame of the U-Turn on Thomas alone, Thomas asked, "Why Thomas? What about Jill?" Claire retorted, "We know the mastermind behind all of this." Brook ended the conversation with a handshake, telling Jill & Thomas, "We'll see you out on the field."

MISSING THE BOAT

Landing in Hong Kong, dating couple Jill & Thomas jumped on a bus bound for the ferry port ahead of the other three teams who all shared the same bus minutes behind. At the port, Jill & Thomas bought tickets and boarded a ferry knowing that the other teams would barely have time to make it barring any mistakes or mishaps. While Nat & Kat and Brook & Claire darted from the bus and sprinted all the way to the port to just make the ferry with Jill & Thomas, dating couple Nick & Vicki had to take a slower jog because of Vicki's asthma. The extra time the tattooed couple needed to reach the port made all the difference as the ferry carrying the other three teams closed the gate and pulled away from shore. Nat told the happy teams that Nick & Vicki would now be on a ferry thirty minutes behind them.

Arriving at the port moments later, Vicki apologized to Nick for slowing them down enough to miss the ferry. Nick snapped back, "I'm sick of you being sorry. I'm not waiting for your asthma ever again. You gotta suck it up." Nick's harsh words caused Vicki to start crying. Instead of easing up on her, Nick continued by asking, "Why are you crying?" Vicki responded that Nick was being mean to her and that she wasn't being slow on purpose. Nick replied, "We can't stop. We stop, we go home." When Nick walked away, a tearful Vicki said, "He keeps yelling at me and I can't do anything about it. He's never had asthma so he doesn't know what it feels like." Walking past Vicki as tears continued to fall, Nick snapped, "Quit cryin'." Once on the ferry, Nick's mood worsened as he told Vicki, "I'm just so irritated. I wish we would've never came. Never had so much stress in my life." Trying to remain positive, Vicki replied, "I just don't want to fight. I just want to get this done."

TRYING TO KEEP UP

Landing on Cheung Chau Island, the three teams all jogged towards Cheung Po Tsai Cave, but Claire had difficulties keeping up. With Brook trying to encourage her, a panting Claire said, "I can't catch my breath." Showing signs of frustration, Brook replied, "You just have to pace yourself." Arriving at the cluebox in third place behind the doctors and Jill & Thomas, the home shopping hosts learned they had to travel by ferry to the Kowloon area of Hong Kong and find Majesty Chinese Restaurant. Now having to run back to the ferry, Claire told her impatient partner, "I can't snap my fingers and be as athletic as you." Brook's response for Claire to be tough prompted Claire to ask, "Am I not being that way? I'm not giving up, but I have to do it at my own pace." Brook testily retorted, "Of course. Heaven forbid you do anyone else's." After reaching the ferry to catch back up with Nat & Kat and Jill & Thomas, Brook made peace with her partner, saying, "Let's hug it out."

PICKY EATERS

Running off the ferry in Kowloon, doctors Nat & Kat took the lead over Jill & Thomas and Brook & Claire and arrived at the Majesty Chinese Restaurant in first place to find a Roadblock. In it, one team member had to use a pair of chopsticks and peck their way through a vast buffet of food searching for one of only five items that were fake. Any real food the teams picked up they had to eat. Once they found the fake item, they would receive their next clue.

As karaoke blasted around her and people sang and cheered at their tables, Nat approached the sprawling buffet table and began to closely inspect the plates of food for a fake piece before touching any with her chopsticks. After Thomas joined Nat at the table, Brook & Claire arrived and Claire volunteered for the task believing it had something to do with karaoke. When Claire realized what she actually had to do, she said, "All the Roadblocks that I've gotten, I've assumed it's been something else and all of them have been horrible." Being a self-professed picky eater, Claire gingerly approached the table and started to eat pieces of food because she couldn't easily identify one of the fake pieces. To help her partner out, Brook ran from table to table getting the audience to clap and cheer as Claire continued to pick at the buffet table. While Brook assumed the cheerleader role, Nat noticed something odd in the plate of salmon sashimi. Picking up the fake piece with her chopsticks, Nat presented it to the chef who gave her the next clue instructing the doctors to "enter the dragon" at Avenue of the Stars. They needed to figure out that they were searching for the statue of Bruce Lee, a memorial to the renowned martial artist and film star.

FEELING ILL

As Nat & Kat headed to the Avenue of the Stars, Thomas and Claire continued to circle the table studying every plate of food with the utmost scrutiny. After Thomas found a fake piece of shrimp to leave the restaurant in second place with Jill, Brook told Claire to just focus. With the arrival of last place Nick & Vicki, Brook kept up her encouragement, telling her partner, "It's you and Vicki, Claire. You got this." With each wrong guess, Claire stuffed her face with an assortment of rice and fish, both fried and raw. Finally, she reached a point where she looked visible ill and declared, "I cannot eat anymore." Trying to choke down the food she had in her mouth, Claire suddenly ran for the bathroom and vomited up her entire meal. Claire later said, "I never puked so much in my life. I was like the exorcist." Returning to the buffet with her now queasy stomach, Claire studied the food once again and this time she found a piece of plastic sashimi as Brook screeched with excitement. In the taxi, Claire warned, "I have barf breath. It's disgusting."

OLD WORLD TRAVEL

Arriving at the Bruce Lee Statue in first place, doctors Nat & Kat opened their clue to find a Detour with the choice of Ding Ding or Sampan. In Ding Ding, teams had to board the 100-year old tram system known as the ding ding. Then, they had to ride a particular portion of the route searching among thousands of signs for three that when put together would reveal the location of the next Pit Stop, Statue Square. When teams had the answer, they could disembark and move on, but if the ride ended before they knew where to go, they would have to make a return trip and start again. In Sampan, teams had to pick up a wooden cage with two parakeets and board a sampan, a traditional vessel used for trade. Then, they would head out into Aberdeen Harbor and search among hundreds of boats for one with the registration number matching the one attached to their birdcage. When they found the correct boat, they could trade their birds for the location to the next Pit Stop.

As Nat & Kat boarded a sampan with their parakeets Jill & Thomas arrived at the Bruce Lee Statue opting to ride the ding ding. Jumping onto the tram, the dating couple began to scour the myriad neon signs and billboards that populated the street. A discouraged Jill said, "There's a million signs in this city." Riding past a distinct red and yellow sign marked "Pit Stop" without noticing, the couple continued on the route, saying, "It's going to be something that stands out." After missing the other two signs reading "Statue" and "Square", the frustrated couple disembarked the ding ding and jumped into a taxi to Aberdeen Harbor to deliver the parakeets.

NOT GIVING UP

Alone in last place at the restaurant, Vicki hovered over the buffet studying the plates carefully as Nick said, "Don't pick at it right away. Make sure it looks a little different. Just look." After touching another piece of real food, Vicki began eating it and started to gag, saying, "My stomach can't take in all this food." She later said, "I'm pretty picky with sushi. It's fish. It was warm." While Vicki managed to keep that piece down, eventually her wrong guesses took their toll as she darted to the bathroom to vomit. With restaurant patrons leaving for the night, Vicki emptied everything that remained in her stomach. Walking inside the bathroom to talk to her, Nick suggested to Vicki that she take the penalty if she didn't want to finish, telling her, "You can't keep throwing up all night. This isn't worth it." A determined Vicki wouldn't hear of it, responding, "I don't want to quit." After regaining her composure, Vicki returned to the buffet and continued to search for the piece of fake food.

DOCS ON TOP

Arriving at the dock, dating couple Jill & Thomas boarded a sampan while doctors Nat & Kat continued their search for the boat with the matching registration tag. Using flashlights to scan the rows and rows of boats in the harbor, neither team could find the specific boat they needed. After moving down another row of boats in the darkness, Jill shone her light on the magic number she and Thomas wanted to see and delivered their birds just ahead of Nat & Kat who found theirs moments later. Returning to the harbor and stepping back onto dry land, Jill & Thomas tried to flag down a taxi but every car they approached would speed past them. When the dating couple finally stopped a driver to ask if he knew Statue Square, doctors Nat & Kat ran off their boat and jumped into a different waiting taxi and drove off with the lead. Jill spotted the doctors ride off and shouted at Thomas to get in their taxi.

Running onto the mat at Statue Square where Phil stood waiting, doctors Nat & Kat claimed first place and a trip for two from Travelocity to Rio de Janeiro. The pair giggled afterwards as Kat told Nat, "I'm so glad you're doing this with me." Coming in second place, dating couple Jill & Thomas insisted to Phil they were still happy with the result even though they had a great shot at winning the leg.

STILL IN IT

While Vicki finally found the fake piece of food to keep her team in the game, Brook & Claire scanned the harbor for their matching boat registration. The home shopping hosts took so much time searching that last place Nick & Vicki once again had a chance to catch up and overtake them. A befuddled Claire said, "There's gotta be some kind of concept to this." Jumping into a sampan of their own, Nick & Vicki now illuminated the harbor with their flashlights trying to find the matching registration number with a pessimistic Nick saying, "It's gonna be so hard at nighttime to do this."

With the gorgeous Hong Kong skyline behind them, Brook & Claire finally spotted the boat they wanted and delivered the parakeets. As the home shopping hosts disembarked their sampan, Nick's attitude worsened as he told a still positive Vicki, "Hide and go seek in the damn dark…this is ridiculous. I just want to choke somebody. I just wanna be done." When Brook & Claire stepped on the mat to claim third place, the pair screamed with excitement as Brook said, "We live another day!"

OVER IT ALL

As the night wore on in the harbor, Vicki refused to give up her search, but Nick had enough and threw in the towel by going to sleep on the boat. Before he shut his eyes, he told Vicki, "You waste your own damn time. I feel like this is pointless." Beyond frustrated and demoralized with her teammate giving up, Vicki said, "This is probably the worst day ever. I'm on my own. I don't want to give up but I need help from him." Feeling exhausted from her long day, Vicki fought the urge to quit and kept searching on her own until Nick woke up and announced, "Get me out of this place. Can't wait to be home." Knowing she couldn't do the task without Nick's cooperation, Vicki grudgingly agreed to take the 6-hour penalty for not completing the Detour, later saying, "It was the worst feeling to walk away from the Detour."

Stepping onto the mat in last place, a dejected Nick & Vicki waited for Phil to eliminate them, but he surprised the couple by revealing that this was a non-elimination leg. Now way behind the other teams because of the 6-hour penalty and also facing a Speed Bump, Vicki said, "It feels good to have another chance to stay in the race, but in the next leg, we need to listen to each other a little bit more. I'm definitely not ready to leave. I didn't come here to quit."