Photo by Ulysses Ang

Despite fluctuating temperatures and a heavy thunderstorm, 99 local and regional finalists remained undeterred at the end of day two of The MediaCorp Subaru Challenge 2014 - The Asian Face-Off.

All vying for the coveted prize of a Subaru car, participants have to keep their right palm firmly on one of ten Subaru Imprezas at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza. A total of 53 regional finalists were still in the running as day two came to a close.

Participants from Thailand remained the strongest, displaying sheer determination and resilience with all 10 contenders still in the competition. Trailing closely behind are Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippines, with nine, seven, and seven finalists representing their country respectively.

Participants from Singapore, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam will give their best to battle exhaustion, unforgiving weather conditions, sleep deprivation, hunger and thirst while keeping their right palms firmly within the surface area of the palm decals with a 5-minute break given once every 6 hours - at 7 PM, 1 AM, 7 AM and 1 PM throughout the competition.

To mark the 13th year, for the first time ever, the public has the opportunity to win extra breaks for their friends or family competing in the event by playing a special online game. The top 10 game scorers on the scoreboard will earn their supported participant an extra 5-minute break. The scoreboard will reset after every break and the public contest will end upon the last 11 standing contestants.

Two bonus breaks took place today at 10 AM and 4 PM where 20 participants enjoyed the brief respite with food and drinks to replenish their energy for the next two days of competition.