Top South East Asia Destinations For a 2 Months Trip

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I’m going to be home for the holidays and it feels weird. This is the time when I go abroad for long trips because I just add vacation days on top of all the statutory holidays around this time. It’s bonkers that I can’t travel this time around and instead, I’m checking 2018 Eula and the places she went to. Right around this time, I was actually in South East Asia and went to awesome destinations in the region in a 2 month long trip. I called this the 2018 YOLO TRIP. It was the most comprehensive travel from all the things I’ve done in the two months I was travelling.

Thank the memories/moments/what you did 2 years ago features of almost every social media reminding me of the great places I’ve been. Great, reminding me of my awesome life when I went on sabbatical and took 2 months off to travel a lot. Relived those moments and see how happy I look from all the adventures and food. I get excited and all I know I’m in front of my laptop writing.

I did everything in this trip. Solo travel, family travel and with friends. Budget, luxury, and home stay (bless the relatives). Also have done every mode of transportation in this trip: plane, train, bus, subway, ferry, boat, and even car-sharing. Got to ride local transportations like trycicle, jeepney and angkas in the Philippines, trishaw in Malaysia, motorbikes in Vietnam, and tuktuk in Thailand. Even ATV for the experience in Thailand up a mountain to see Big Buddha.

This is the list of destinations I went to with the number of days I spent there. I’m going to give you some highlights of the fun things I did while I was there. More detailed itinerary and things to do are coming up for each countries that happened in this trip so stay tuned! I’m actually quite excited to share.

Singapore – 5 Days

Landed here from Dubai flying with Singapore Airlines. I love Singapore and Changi Airport so I was actually quite happy I had the opportunity to have this as a destination in my trip.

I really like Singapore. It was funny that I remember I looked forward to exploring this country because right about this time was when Crazy Rich Asians was really popular. The film used Singapore to shoot a lot of the scenes and referenced many popular buildings. I was like, maybe I should visit Singapore before it gets expensive than it already is. So my friend and I went to the buildings and took photos haha. The hype will come soon. I didn’t do a lot of touristy things but explored local spots with my friend.

Vietnam – 3 Days

My first visit in the land of pho, cà phê sữa đá and motorbikes. I went here with a friend and stayed at Ho Chi Minh City explored the city and did day trips around. It’s the first time in forever that I got to eat in the streets like a local. Explored popular destinations like the Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnels, and pampered myself with nails and spa.

Thailand – 14 Days

This incredible destination was everything I expected. Tasty food, lovely elephants, great beaches, strong sun (I had a heat stroke), awesome temples, and relaxing massages. So much good good here actually. I went to two restaurants that had Michelin stars. One of the was Saneh Jaan. I seriously miss going to restaurants and enjoying food.

I had so many ‘why would you this to yourself Eula’ memorable experiences here. Spent my 28th birthday here actually in an island like a true Pacific islander. Went on a full moon party the day after my birthday. Seriously, this trip made me question my decisions in life haha but I had so much fun hanging out with friends, travellers, and locals! It was super tourist friendly and I hope it stays that way even after the pandemic. I would love to come back and explore Pai and the Krabi region.

Philippines – 29 Days

This is the total number of days I spent in this country counting the days I just went here overnight to change travel gear, stayed at relatives for the holidays, and hangout with friends and traveled around.

In this trip, I made ‘pitstops’ to the Philippines to drop off stuff that I’ll be bringing back to Canada, do laundry, and get new clothes for the next destination. I made the Philippines my home base because I had relatives there. It was definitely convenient to go back and forth the Philippines because flights were so affordable. The advantage of low cost flights in Asia.

Malaysia – 5 Days

This destination totally struck me with its amazing food, vibrant culture, and friendly people! I technically went here twice in this trip. First was when I did a day trip to Johor Bahru from Singapore and another trip with my family to explore Penang and Kuala Lumpur. I fell in love with laksa all over again and rendangs and admired mosques.

South Korea -2 Days

Second time here and I’m putting this destination here too. Because I love South Korea and this is where I flew out to go back to Canada coming from the Philippines. It was so cold I felt like I was going to get sick because of the change of temperature. My friend said that period I was there was the coldest time that winter season. I bought a second luggage, hangout at Hongdae, met friends, bought all the Korean beauty products in the world, and went to my favourite barista in my favourite cafe (what a fan girl). It was good that this was my last stop and knew how much money I had to spend on beauty products before I leave Asia.

What Actually Happened Was…

You know how I said that I went all over the place during this trip and flew planes back and forth the Philippines. I want to be transparent with you and let you know my actual itinerary. It wasn’t all leisure because I wanted to maximize my stay in the destinations and save money. So this what actually happened…

Singapore (5 days) > Philippines (overnight) > Vietnam (3 days) > Thailand (2 weeks) > Philippines (7 days) > Malaysia (5 days) > Philippines (20 days) > South Korea (overnight) > Canada.

Between Philippines and Vietnam, I actually had a layover in Singapore. Technically 1 night at Changi Airport which I didn’t mind because it’s one of the best airport to have a long layover. The fact that I have a Priority Pass made it all the more exciting and lounge hopped.