I don’t really like to travel during summer (even though I love the beaches). Singapore is already hot so I don't really want to go to a hot destination again, right?
But last month I went to Japan and it was summer. I thought I won’t be able to apply for leave until January next year, so I just went ahead and book this trip. It was my birthday anyway so I thought it would be nice to go overseas to celebrate for a change.
Tokyo was pretty hot but Hakone was nice. It felt a lot like Cameron Highlands but colder. As much as I enjoyed the weather, I have to say that the sun is the scariest when the weather is cold. Well, let me explain this.
I tend to look for the sun, stand under the sun, and face the sun when I’m very cold. I did this in Melbourne while I was hiking with Simon and both of us suffered from sunburnt. We were so cold that we just wanted to feel the warmth from the sun.
Because of this, I always return with different tones on my body because my body is all covered up except for the face and neck. The last time we came back with new moles. Mine was on the neck - maybe it was because I left out sunblock on the neck, while Simon's was on the face. I then realized that this is very damaging.
Ever since then even if I’m cold, I will avoid the sun and just hide in a corner. The thing is, it’s hard to hide when you are hiking. There is nothing to cover you and it is weird to hold an umbrella while you are hiking too. I still haven't found a way to counter this yet but most of the time I'll just look at the ground to avoid the sun LOL.
So if you think it is safer to be exposed to the sun during spring, autumn or winter, then you are wrong. They are still as damaging. Always remember to apply sunblock and cover up as much as possible!