The Diary of Henry Reed: TARA 2 Episode Five....continuation

EDITING ADDENDUM ......



Hey Guys,

I just watched Episode 5 again .... for about the 5th time. It really comes on a lot of different times here each week and I seem to just be catching them all. Anyway, as I watch it again, the editing really doesn't capture the pain ... much like that first leg in Singapore at the start of the race. That was truly brutal and reminded me of running suicides with Joe Moresco back in H.S. and having him yell at us .. "If you wanna quit, then QUIT!!!!" I seriously thought about it 'cause at the time, I felt like I was gonna die but I didn't quit then and I'll never quit.

But anyway, I'm hoping I can give you a little sense of the frustrating hopelessness that surrounded Team Nine Deuce for almost all of our time in Japan.

We searched in the park at night and we actually found the rickshaws pretty quick. I think we passed a couple teams in that park because there were still a few rickshaws left when we found them. But then on the rickshaw ride, I noticed that they are balanced so that "Rick" doesn't have to bear much of the weight on his arms as long as he keeps it level. I got that part right away but Terri wanted to get off the rickshaw each time we stopped to ask for directions .... and that was a LOT. We had no map so we had to rely on finding people that "looked" like they may speak English to get us there. So every couple minutes, Terri was on my ass about how hard the guy was working and that we should get off. I just couldn't get her to understand that it's easier for him if we stay on so he doesn't have to lower it to the ground and then lift it up again. Those rickshaws practically balanced themselves. And more importantly, I didn't give a shit how tired that guy was. The show was paying his ass so as long as he didn't pass out, as far as I was concerned, he coulda' run a marathon and I wouldn't care. I sorta also figured that if he got tired enough, he would "accidentally" take us right to the Sony building just to get it over with. I'm sure he knew exactly where it was but when we asked him, he had been instructed not to tell us. Guess that was part of the "fun."

On the search for those little maid chicks, we had been running around that place for about 2 hours. It was this HUGE multi-level mall with levels above and below ground. It was filled with passageways that connected to the subway, streets and all kinda other obstacles. It was called "something" city and it really was. There was no central food court where you could really see a lot of different areas. You had to search them all.

I saw the picture and thought it looked like it might be a restaurant uniform so I checked a lot of restaurants. Not sure why Terri was yelling at me about the picture on the camera. As the 'mall' started to close, there was a security guard that started following us ...... and as I would try and enter a place to ask if the girl in the picture worked there, the guard would stop me. It actually got a bit physical and I really thought I was gonna go to Japanese jail. We had an AXN security dude with us but that fucker was useless. All he'd say was "I'm not here!" I guess his job was to call Allen Wu and tell him we were in jail and wouldn't make the next pit stop .. heh, heh, heh.

Terri wanted to quit and that's why I told her to at least give me 'til 11:45. I think it was almost 11:30 at that point. I knew it had to be there somewhere so I was just gonna keep going. Turns out, it was on one of the lower levels outside the place. So if you got to the city at that entrance, well you were golden. Unfortunately, we arrived there by subway that let us off right in the middle of Non-English speaking hell!!

There were hours and hours of walking Japanese streets with no idea where we were going and trying to find someone to help us. On the show, I even saw Natasha get a little impatient asking for directions. We had a map but it's not like a map in the US. The numbering is very strange with some kinda grid number system. I sorta found a guy at a gas station that explained it to me a little as we were looking for those frickin' fish to scoop. But the next obstacle is that most of the buildings aren't numbered so even if you figure out the grid, you're still in Non-English speaking hell. We chose the fish 'cause it was well past midnite and there was no way I was gonna try and find the address for a kimono shop and then deliver that to yet another address .... that woulda been suicide.

The editing also didn't show how long we were ... or any other team for that matter .... how long we were actually inside that freezer. You ever seen those shows where some nut case has made a hotel or bar completely outa ice and it's such a great 'experience' to stay there??? .... well, BULLSHIT!! That place was freezing!!! Guess that's why when they show those kinda places, all you see are white people visiting. No Filipinos or Blacks. But I guess the Japanese are into them too .... like I said, I just don't get the Japanese. Kinda remind me a lot of preachers that speak "the gospel" on Sunday but are some of the freakiest folks on the planet during the week. But any way .....

I had NO idea what the city could be and really couldn't come up with a lot of choices so I ended up just randomly flipping blocks for and hour or so. It was very easy to put the blocks in an order that sounded like a Japanese city but whether SO-DA-HA-KU really exists, well, I have no idea!!! heh, heh, heh.

But here's the truth ... and I bet my character as a man on it ... if by some stroke of brilliant luck, I had got Fukuoka before Vanessa, I would have shown it to her as soon as I had my clue. Both Terri and me love the Gumby Girls and that really was torture in that place and I would not like to see her suffer like that. That's the truth.

That's also why, while I love survivor, I would NEVER join because the lying like that is just not who I am. I sorta see myself in the same mental state as James from this last Survivor - China except I've actually watched the show. I didn't get the impression James ever did. He showed up in a suit!!! The idea that my future could be in the hands of a little gay flight attendant that it would take me less than a minute to submit in the octagon ... the fact that someone like that could rule the game is just not my cup of tea. I think Todd had a perceived weakness among the men and maybe a bit of kinship among the women so he really was in a good position and deserved to win ...

There was some shady shit that went on on the train ride to Fukuoka that I still haven't figured out. It was a very long ride so I'm sure all the teams did just like we did by trying to talk to people on the train to get a little bit of an edge when we got to Fukuoka. From the clue, you knew where you had to go so the teams try and figure out the easiest way to get to the next clue from the train station. And there's also an underlying nervousness that you may be on the wrong train ..... Non-English Speaking Hell ... remember???

So we asked one of the food cart girls on the train about our arrival in Fukuoka. She said she didn't know but would go and get the conductor. About 10 minutes later, the conductor arrived .... wearing a uniform ... and she told us exactly what we had to do to get to Fukuoka. We had to get off the train we were on at some other station. She even wrote it all down for us with times and track numbers. We were supposed to transfer to another train that would take us to Fukuoka. Again, she had the track number and times for this second train.

We had that info but decided to ask again just in case and DAMN!! ALL that info was dead wrong! The train we were on was a direct trip to Fukuoka! No need to get off anywhere! We asked another conductor about the info we had and unfortunately, that guy took the paper we had with all the evidence written down. I would have loved to have that paper back but we never could find either of them again.

Now, for someone to hatch an elaborate plan like that, well, they had to be pretty good .... maybe even fluent in Japanese. I just don't know.
'Cause the food cart girl, the conductor and whoever put them up to it would all have to be in on it. It was just very strange. If the production crew did it to put us under a bit more stress and watch us explode again, I wouldn't be surprised. It happened before. But if it were one of the other teams, well, it's just hard for me to imagine how they pulled it off and I really would want to find out how when we get together in Singapore for the wrap party. That was brilliant!! No hard feelings, only admiration. It's kinda like wondering how David Blaine sticks his hand thru glass to grab a watch. If you know how it was done, it's simple but right now, it's just an overwhelming mystery.

Well, that's about all for now. I gotta get some shut eye. I've got an early morning tomorrow ... wait, who am I kidding .... I'm retired in paradise!! My next 'scheduled' event is tennis tomorrow afternoon .... Life is good.

Holla later,

Henry