Thailand leads the pack of Asian Contenders

After battling it out in gruelling conditions for 30 hours, the Thailand team proved its mettle with a full team of ten members. At the 7.00pm dinner break Taiwan had fallen out of the competition leaving while the teams from Hong Kong and China had already dwindled down to its last members. The Malaysian, Philippines and Indonesian teams remained with almost half of their members still standing.

"I'm very excited that I made the team this year, as I missed out by a few minutes last year," said Samach Tepsen, a member of the Thailand team. "We are definitely going to stay here for the longest to win the Asian title."

At break time, only 145 contestants remained, including Singapore's 122 contenders. Last year's first runner-up, Ms Mary Tan, is still going strong whilst 65-year old Ms Vivien Tan decided to call it quits during the dinner break.

In the mid afternoon, contestants competed in a dance-off for a chance to win a bonus five minute break at 4pm. After performing an applause-worthy shimmying to Beyonce's 'All The Single Ladies' chart-topping number, the contestants of Car 9 emerged victorious. Car 6 came in a close second.

The dinner break at 7.00pm gave contestants something to look forward to, especially since this was the first time since the competition began, that family members were allowed into the break area. Although only one family member per contestant was allowed to visit during the break, other family members showed their support by cheering contestants on from the sidelines.

Family members who were on standby waited anxiously to get a chance to provide words of comfort and encouragement to the mostly-weary contestants. Some contestants also received massages and treatment from the experienced physiotherapists present.