The tropics is hot all year round, and when I mean hot I mean it's typically 32-35 during the day, and 25 at night. When I mean all year round I really mean every freaking day of the 365.25 days of the year. (I account for leap years naturally with that decimal). The lowest temperatures are around 20 at minimum, and highest temperatures are brink on 40. If you think it's not very hot, well it's not like a desert of course, but one big factor that makes it feel worse (not really hotter, but just worse) is the humidity. Singapore averages around 70-80 on most days. Yes, that means that any rain/shower brings it to 100% humidity easily. It's very uncomfortable when that happens. (Oh, and in case you're wondering, it's all Celsius. No one uses Fahrenheit cos it's a bad scale, doesn't make sense, and makes all scientific calculations wonky. i.e. it's not practical.)
So naturally, for almost all holidays I take overseas, I aim for somewhere cold, cool at the least, and I really appreciate every single day of that cold weather. Now that I'm here (and not during the summer thankfully), I still am grateful for the cold weather every day. Sure, it can make my fingers feel rather numb when I'm cycling pretty fast down the street at around 8C, with some additional headwind (because Cambridge is quite windy) and sometimes even a drizzle/rain. Yes, it can get quite cold, and the only thing on my mind is to hurry up and get to my destination, but each time I look back, I realise I kind of enjoy it.
It's more practical to be too cold than to be too hot. For one, we are warm blooded beings, and that means we already produce our own heat. It's what we're good at. When we're too cold, all we need to do is to stop heat from escaping, and we can warm ourselves easily with our natural metabolism. However, if we're too hot, there's no passive way to get rid of the heat, and in fact, no way at all, except by sweating. And sweating isn't nice, because it's like being caught in the rain, only stickier, more uncomfortable, and smellier. Also, you don't look good. Whereas wearing layers of clothing to keep you warm allows you to dress up a little, since now you've got more choices and more options, and besides that making you look better, it also makes you quite comfortable (I like soft materials like feather jackets, or wool sweaters)
I have wondered what it might be like, if I had gone to somewhere even colder than here... say MIT, or Michigan, where there's perma snow close to a third of the year round. That might be quite inconvenient, and I guess I might not find snow as special as I do now, but otherwise, it shouldn't be any different from what I am experiencing here right now.
Of course, you know, quite a number of people have been telling me that living in a cold climate is different from having a holiday. But I don't believe them. I don't believe them at all. I've been on holidays for 2-3 weeks in cold places without ever feeling tired of the cold. I might get tired and irritated by the rain here, which, on occasion, can go on for a few days on end, BUT, I'll probably never get tired of the cold. Sure, I might decide to wear thicker, and not let the cold get to me (as I like doing now. I don't zip up my windbreaker unless I'm cycling), but I don't think I'll actually get tired of the cold. No. That won't happen. I go with the more convenient and practical route. And cold, is better than hot.