Asia trip 2025

TL;DR

• Favourite place: Phuket old town, Taipei
• Favourite public transport: Taipei
• Favourite hospitality (exclude Thailand): Taiwan
• Favourite airport: Singapore
• Favourite food (exclude Thailand): Osaka
• Favourite Seven-eleven: Taiwan!!

Intro

Towards the end of my PhD, the thesis writing period was getting very intense and stressful. Complaining became my breakfast, and, eventually, I set a goal to do a big trip with Jack to celebrate the thesis submission. It did not take long to plan as we had just recently been to Europe two years ago. Thus, it must be somewhere else. The easiest option for both of us was east Asia. Becuase, I didn’t need a visa and Jack hadn’t really been there. We came up with a number of countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. Unfortunately, some countries had to be dropped for a feasible time frame. After a long research, we ended up doing four countries: Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan. Well, I reckon I don’t have to explain why Thailand was there lol. We chose to visit Singapore for two reasons. First, I’d never been there, and second, it’s been always Jack’s favourite place on earth. In contrast, I have always been interested in Taiwan, both culturally and politically (although Taiwan has only had free elections for the past 30 years, it has now become one of the most democratic countries in Asia!! How cool is that!?) Finally, JAPAN. Jack had never been (he actually said he’d rather visit Africa!), and I had only ever been to Tokyo. So this felt like a good time to visit other parts of Japan.

Overall flights.

Thailand

The flight was 8 hours from Brisbane to Bangkok. I was a bit excited since I hadn’t been back in almost two years. The plan was I went solo to reunite with my family in Isan, Sakon Nakhon. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing much to do in this (very) small village though I could stay rent-free with my family.

Bangkok

After two weeks, Jack came along to Bangkok. There were heaps of things you can do in Bangkok. We visited some temples and museums (which I hadn’t realised it was quite decent). Meeting my friends. We visited some very interesting places, ranging from the grand royal palace to the largest slum of Bangkok. Food, food, and more food. Mind you though, since I left Bangkok three years ago, the city was seen a LOT cleaner. I know somebody has done their job. 👏👏👏

We did a bit of travel back and forth between different regions and Bangkok. We stayed in three different areas. First, we stayed around BTS Nana (I thought I wanted somewhere you can see city skyscape – turned out it was very bad neighbourhood :(). Then, we stayed in sort of Koasan road. The vibes in general were fine, but too much weed (ah damn). The last stay was Chatuchak area. It was great. We went to the market and also very close to the airport.

Wat Arun at night.

View from our hotel (BTS Nana area).

Hometown region

After Bangkok, we flew to Udonthani to my hometown. My hometown precisely is in Khamtakla district, which is, again, a very small town. The major economy is from agriculture. Mind you though there one thing that surprised me, which was there is a German restaurant there. But I wouldn’t be too much surprised if there are German partners married to the locals. We actually tried to book in the restaurant but sadly it was closed (they went to renew their visa).

We went to some tourist attractions nearby, such as, three-whale rocks, Nakee cave and Nakhon Phanom. Inronically, none of those were in my province. LOL. We declared that our favourite place is Nakon Pranom town proper. Along Mae Khong river, you can see Laos with hundreds of mountains. I love their night street market. We definitely want to come back. On the three-whale rocks. Nakhon Phanom town Laos from Mae Khong

Ayutthaya

We flew back to Bangkok again and stayed a couple nights. Then, we took a train to Ayutthaya for an hour and a half. We only spent a night there and tried to do things as much as we could. I feel that we didn’t need to stay over night at all. There was nothing much to do there during the night. We visited a couple archeological sites.

Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Krabi

We flew from Bangkok to Krabi. There were a lot of westerners on the plane and barely see the locals. We stayed in a hotel in the Krabi proper town, which I am glad I did that because the other option was Ao-nang, which is very touristy area. We took a boat trip around the river to see caves and mangrove forest. We went to Ao-nang and took a boat to Railay beach. Railay beach was awesome. Growing up as an Isan boy, I had always wanted to visit. We kayaked around the beach.

View from Krabi river. On the way to Railay beach.

Phuket

We took a ferry from Krabi to Phuket town proper and stayed in Chinatown. We only spent two nights in Phuket, which I wish I did more. It was soooo good. I didn’t know that Phuket is this pretty. The architectures there are so western although it has never been colonised by any western world. There is a technical term from this though, which is “Sino-Portuguese” (see photo). The architecture was influenced by the Chinese and Malay merchants who came to Phuket back then. Historically, Phuket was once known for tin mining and has now become a beach paradise destination. The city actually gives similar vibes to Singapore.

On the second night we moved to the west coast at Patong beach. The street was wild. Not for me. We regretted it!

We concluded Thailand in Phuket and then flew to Singapore.

Phuket Chinatown. A restaurant. You can see how they brag. LOL

Singapore

Singapore is a very efficient country or city or whatever. It only took five seconds to pass the immigration (although Australia is very quick as well). We had four nights here and what should I do? I wasn’t sure what would interest me, since Thai food has already stolen my heart. Shopping? Not my thing (though Thailand, in fact, has massive shopping centres.

Well, there are a few things that I love about Singapore as I listened to a podcast about Lee Kuan Yew. First, their resilience. Amazing what they’ve achieved after being kicked out of Malaysia. Second, the museums. I have been to museums around the world (well, Europe, Australia and Asia) and Singapore’s are world class!! Third, their inclusivity. I know it is not an easy job to bring together people of such different backgrounds. Well, there is a price to pay. Freedom? Democracy?

On the last day, we attended a Lady Gaga concert. It was great. Not a massive fan of hers, but I was sure everybody there had a good time! To conclude Singapore, well to be blatantly, they have the worst hospitality in this trip. Went to a Hawker food and got yelled. :( Would I come back? Not sure :(

Cloud forest in Singapore. View from our hotel in Boat Quay

Taiwan

Taipei

The flight was 4 hours from Singapore to Taoyuan Airport. We then took an hour-long train to Taipei. We arrived in the evening and went straight to Taipei 101. The building very stood out, and the coolest thing about it is it allows the public to see the “turned mass damper” (see photo).

On the second day, we explored museums and strolled around different districts. The city was soooo clean. The public transport is incredibly efficient. I LOVE it. We visited a couple of night markets, and, surprisingly, there were very few Western tourists. On the last day, we went the national palace museum, which showcased some treasuries from Tang Dynasty brought over together by Chiang Kai-shek.

Turned mass damper from 89th floor. Cabbage made from jade in the national palace museum.

Taichung

I must confess that we didn’t plan to visit Taichung. Originally, we were going to Sun Moon Lake, but we got on the wrong bus and decided to stay in Taichung instead. The city had an industrial vibe, but we stumbled upon an amazing night market. Well, Thailand has a reputation of street food, but to be honest, Taiwan also does very well (except that I love Thai food more XD). Before leaving, we visited the 921 Earthquake Museum, built from collapsed buildings of a junior high school. Very cool and informative.

Taichung night market. Earthquake musuem.

Tainan-Kaohsiung

We wanted to visit somewhere outside Taipei and it landed Tainan. For me, Tainan is a very culturally rich city. I love the food. I love the vibes. This city was originally built by the Dutch. We visited some forts around the city (built by dutch and Japanese). We visited the national museum of Taiwan history, which I think it is the best one in Taiwan. Interestingly, the national museum is not located it its capital. The night market there was very busy. Funny enough, I spotted a Thai papaya salad stand (see photo)! Like I had so many questions. LOL.

The last day we made a day trip to Kaohsiung. We went to a Buddha museum. We stumbled upon a dragon boat racing festival. Feel like we were very lucky in this trip. Fun fact, Kaohsiung and Brisbane are two sister cities!

We concluded Taiwan by taking a high speed rail from Tainan to Taoyuan Airport. It was very scenic along the trip. Would I come back? Yes, to the nature next time!

A rainy night in Tainan. YUM! Night market in Tainan (the papaya salad stand!!). Kaohsiung dragon boat racing.

Japan

Osaka-Kyoto-Nara

Now flying to KIX. My first impression was the airport! I did not know that the Kansai airport was built on the reclaimed land! If you check the Google map, it will make sense to you. We arrived quite late at night and was very confused by the train system there. Fortunately, most of the restaurants open until 5am. (It was crazy. Australian mind could never comprehend this LOL.) We were so hungry and randomly walked in a restaurant, which turned out to be the best meal on the trip!! We stayed in Osaka for five nights. We went around the city: to Osaka castle, museums and the street food market. I love the fact that they have a whole world underground (like literally).

Osaka castle. Osaka at night.

On the next day, we spent a day trip to Kyoto. Went to Kyoto national museum, the temple and Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Those are very classic tourist hotspots.

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine Kyoto in evening.

Then, we went to Nara. Oh deer(s), I reckon people go there to just see those deers. LOL. We visited Todai-ji Temple (has the largest wooden building), residing a black wooden Buddha.

Wild deers in Nara. Todai-ji Temple.

Finally, the last day in Osaka, we attended the World Expo 2025. It was insanely busy, especially to visit pavilions. My advice is if you hate queues, don’t go!

Hiroshima

We took a Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima and spent two nights there. Of course, we came for the A-bomb. We visited the memorial museum. It was brutally honest and graphic. We also visited the peace memorial and the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (which is preserved since the A-bomb left – see photo). Anyway, the vivid side is the city. Hiroshima is incredible. The city today is a world-class city. Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall.

Again, we stumbled upon something! Turned out there was summer-start festival (Toukasan Yukata Festival) while we visited. People wore traditional kimonos to celebrate. There was a parade and food stands around the city. It was so cool!! Toukasan Yukata Festival.

On the second day we went to Hiroshima castle and Japanese garden in the city.

Tokyo

The last city of the trip. We took the Shinkansen straight from Hiroshima. While we were wondering why the ticket was so expensive — turned out it was the first class ticket. :( We stayed five nights in Tokyo. Four nights in Shinjuku and a night in Ginza. It was my third time in Tokyo, so not much excitement. We went to Shibuya (to see the famous crossing), Harajuku, Akihabara, Odaiba and Yanaka. It felt like a mistake to stay in Shinjuku to be honest. It was way too red-light district for us. We also went to Enoshima, which is known as Tokyo’s beach town. It was great. We were supposed to Mt Fuji from there but sadly the weather wasn’t permitted. In fact, we were supposed to see it from the Shinkansen. Again, bad weather. This only means come back another time. Shinjuku (we stayed in the hotel with the Godzilla!!) View from Tokyo skytree.

To conclude Japan, I love Ramen. Seriously, the fact that each region of Japan has different kinds of ramen is insane. Public transport is a bit messy and run down as it is old already; I think Tapei wins over this. Would I come back? Yes, but different city.

Osaka Kyoto Nara

Ranking

• Favourite city: Phuket old town, Taipei
• Best public transport: Taipei
• Best hospitality (exclude Thailand): Taiwan
• Best airport: Singapore
• Best food (exclude Thailand): Osaka
• Best Seven-eleven: Taiwan!!