Quick. When you see this picture what do you think?
If you’re my brother: “Why all those people wearing Kleenex boxes?”
If you’re me: “Dude, even the kid up front figured it out.”
If you’re my Korean friend: “There ain’t nothing wrong here.”
Actually, the Koreans are no more phobic about sun exposure than the Japanese, Chinese or Singaporeans.
In fact most Asian women seem abnormally preoccupied in keeping their skin pale and blemish free.
In Singapore on really sunny days (that would be 9 out of 10 days) I am routinely sideswiped by exploding umbrellas at crowded street corners.
On busy and not so busy sidewalks, it’s challenging to dodge slow moving people with unfurled umbrellas.
At times like these I appreciate the merits of another distinctively Asian head wear – the full-face, paisley piped, sun eclipsing visor cap.
Seoul & Singapore. June 2016
The Sandy Chronicles 