Tanned in UK

For all the years in Malaysia and Singapore, under the hot scorching sun, I have not got tanned seriously. Yes, on occasions when I go on holidays on the islands or the beach, I get a little tanned... just slightly. This is because I am aware of the fact that I'll be under the big sun so I apply sun blocks and make sure I'm well protected. However, 2 weeks ago on a Saturday, I went canoing down the river Thames (no... not exactly in London, but in Lechlade). Lechlade is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It is located at the southern edge of the Cotswolds. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach which joins the Thames near here and is a popular venue for tourism and river-based activities.

It was a brilliant day where the temperature rises to around 24 degrees, the sun is out, coll breezes. The whole atmosphere just changed... from a gloomy overcast and cold to this sunny, warm weather. The behavior and moods of people changes instantaneously. Everybody is so jolly and BBQ pits were brought out, you see people sitting outside the bar drinking beers. Anyway, back to the canoing. It was the second time I've canoed. The first time is 10 odd years ago when I went to Pangkor Island with my friends after my SPM. We hired canoes and fought the waves on the open sea. It's not a rough sea and we didn't paddled far out. This time however it's on a calm and gentle river. We park slightly further down the river and put down the canoe. We thought it's best to go upstream, get the tougher part over while we are still fresh. We got up to the furthest we could possibly go and then stop for a beer at the town. After some rest, we went back down the river back to the car. After we drove to lunch at one of the nearby pub by the river. The paddle is a little hard but not too tough. Along the river, there were schools of swans and their cute little ducklings, other canoeist and boats. There were some families having picnics along the river banks, kids playing at the river... just enjoying the sun and making the most out of the weather.

I only came to realize that my arms were 'lobster' red after I got back home later. I wore a short sleeve t-shirt during the canoe. Yes, its sunny earlier on but it's not hot cause there's cool breezes every so often. But damage is done. Then this few days I noticed the skins of my arms starting to peel off. Never have I got myself burnt before.... definitely not in this country were I've kept complaining about the cold ? hahahha.... but then again never under-estimate the quiet dog / calm waters. So lesson learnt =)