I thought about splitting this into separate posts but I can’t do it because I really don’t have THAT many recommendations that I am screaming you should go visit. Some places, I only just have the hotel and some sights.

When I travel, I don’t like sitting on a beach the whole time. I am a visitor of the city and I would like to act like a local if possible. I also really focus on eating the cuisine of the area as much as I can.

So this list looks small but I only put the places where I would go back and not the ones where I would give a miss or say is overhyped. I went to a lot more places and ate more things but they weren’t memorable.

All the links below are Google map links and reviews and prices are valid as of August 2026.

WHEN DID YOU GO?

If you are interested, I was vacationing for 3 months and shortly thereafter, I decided to retire at 43 because I rage quit, which is exactly what I was doing all this money stuff for.

MALAYSIA

IPOH

• Sojourn Hotel & Spa Ipoh: Magnificent hotel and spa. Skip the manicure or pedicure, they don’t do nailpolish and it was a real scam. The rest was great like the facial and massage. Take the largest room you can afford, it is worth it. They have a location in Kuala Lumpur too, I would stay at this hotel all day, every day.
• Perak Cave Temple: A nice way to pass half a day, maybe longer if you plan on taking the stairs to the tippy top.
• Kellie’s Castle: A nice change of pace from all the temples, mosques and such.

PENANG

Tip: Hire a local driver / private tour guide. They are fairly inexpensive for the day ($250/day at the time of this post), and well worth it because driving in Penang is not for the weak.

• Modern Hotel Georgetown: I didn’t stay here but our tour guide recommended it highly for the next time. He called it the “Black and White Hotel” because the building is in those colours.
• New World Park Food Market: Bright and open, reasonably priced food court. I like it mostly because it was shaded with fans so you could eat and not sweat into your food.
• Penang Hill: Pay for the fast pass to bypass the lines and plan to spend the entire day here. It is a wonderful walk & like being in a rainforest. You can also pay for this little tram to bring you to the main area to a café point, and then walk the rest of the way if you wish.
• Kek Lok Si Temple: I could have spent a whole day here. So many interesting things to see and learn about all the religions.
• Pinang Peranakan Mansion: One of my favourite museums of all time. Again, SO MUCH to do and learn. Wish I had had the time to dress up and do photo shoots around the mansion like the other women. 🙁 Next time.
• Chew Jetty: The best of the jettys to visit, a neighbourhood of the Chew clan built on the water to avoid housing taxes from the colonialist British days. Very cool to learn about it.
• Penang State Museum: Only if you have run out of things to see, this museum is also interesting. But I would do the other things on my list first.

SINGAPORE

• Gardens by the Bay: I could have spent all day here, reading and hanging out.. particularly by the Thai section with the water gong.
• Singapore Merlion: Of course you have to come and see this icon.
• Marina Bay Sands 57th floor: No need to be a hotel guest here, pay $35 SGD per person and head to the 57th floor for drinks and you will get the bird’s eye view of the area where the Merlion is.
• Yishun Wet Market: Fresh local food and produce if you plan on cooking in your hotel when you are there.
• Syed Restaurant: Located in the Yishun Wet Market, it is halal and the chicken curry was incredible.
• Silk Restaurant: Located in a country club, this was the best dim sum I had; the real winner was a mushroom truffle rice dish.
• Smith Street: Touristy but well worth the walk around anyway. Lots of things to see and buy.
• Orchard Road: Obviously. Shopping and hanging out. Spent 2 days here.
• Crab at the Bay: Best chili crab in Singapore, better than the one at the harbour. The other specialties like the duck and pork were outstanding as well.
• Boon Tong Kee Restaurant: Best Hainanese chicken rice I had in Singapore.
• Birds of Paradise Artisanal Gelato: I wish I had more time to eat all of the flavours.
• Ri Ri Cha Gelato: Another amazing place for ice cream.

HONG KONG

• Chiuchow Garden Restaurant: Teochew cuisine. Truly excellent, would highly recommend.
• The Peak: Pay for the fast pass. Everyone goes here. Do it. It is a beautiful view when the smog isn’t too heavy.
• Temple Street Night Market: A cool nighttime activity, interesting and lively stalls.
• Nan Lian Gardens and Chi Lin Nunnery: They’re right beside each other. A nice half a day to be spent here if you wish.
• Chi Lin Vegetarian Restaurant: Probably the best food I have ever had in my life. It was filling and delicious.

JAPAN

KYOTO

• Kinkaku-ji Temple: Obviously. A golden temple? Come on.
• うを捨: Hole in the wall sushi place, family-run and incredible. Near Kinkaku-ji temple.
• Bamboo Forest: Magnificent .. so cooling to walk in the shade of these beautiful bamboo trees.
• Kiyomizu-dera Temple: The temple is nice (quite a climb) but the street to shop was the real draw for me to get some beautiful art.
• Ten Thousand Senbon Torii Gates: Must-walk. It is really quite something to see it in photos but better in real life.

OSAKA

• The Flag Hotel: Perfectly well-appointed, compact and wonderfully efficient hotel.
• The Flag Hotel Breakfast Buffet: Well worth the price. Such a wide and delicious variety for $20 per person.
• Salmon Kat Namba Restaurant: More sushi in a hole in a wall place (you would walk by and miss it), focused on salmon. Thick, generous slices of fish and reasonably priced.
• SOT Coffee Roasters: Delicious breakfast, coffee, cheesecake and matcha without sugar (this was very hard to find in Japan).

NAGOYA

• Nikko Style Nagoya: Excellent hotel, beautiful and well designed.
• Shirakawago village: 2 hours from Nagoya. I didn’t do this, but take a private tour or car to get there because you will need the whole day. If you can’t make this one, the Hida no Sato village looks similar according to Dana Wang, a traveler I follow.
• Yakiniku no Watami Meieki Branch: All you can eat beef (1 hour limit) that you can grill. Literally. We stuffed ourselves.

TOKYO

**Tip: Bring psyllium husk powder if you can. You will need to drink a teaspoonful of it a day, mixed in water to not clog up your system from all the food you are eating. It is very difficult to find anything like that there. I tried all the recommended jellies and stuff, but none of it really worked. Alternatively you can eat pineapple, drink yoghurt (delicious), and eat prunes to help.**

Also if you go in the summer, bring a portable, wearable fan. Yes, you are just fanning hot air around but trust me, you will wish you had that fan when the heat sticks to you.

• Any 7-Eleven: Take their drinkable yoghurt, any of their meals are delicious, including hot food. They also sell basic clothing. Drop all of your garbage during the day here. This is the place to do it, there are no garbage cans in Japan.
• Lawson: Another great convenience store chain.
• If you are into beer, try: Suntory The Malt beer.
• Bounce Luggage Storage locations: If you buy too much while shopping and need to store it for the short-term while shopping, try  Cheap and clever.
• Yamoto Transport: THE BEST way to shift luggage from one hotel room to another or to the airport. Not all hotels / AirBnBs do this for you at the front desk, but they also have locations all over Japan or dropoffs at 7-Elevens so you can do it yourself with Google Translate. Cost is about $20 per bag, depending on size and weight. Maximum is 25 kg or something like that. Anything over that, they won’t take.
• Bic Camera: A chain and a wonderland of electronics, bags, food, and items.
• Mega Don Quijote: Another cheap discount chain that is full of a lot of stuff. Very crowded and overwhelming for many people. Be forewarned. The Mega stores are worth the visit.
• Daiso: A chain, and full of skincare, bags, etc.
• Isetan Shinjuku: A department store with a wide variety of goods.
• Kanda Myojin Shrine: Beautiful Edo lion statues, a real shrine for locals. Nice gift shop too.
• らいくら LikeLove （カフェ）: Near the Kanda Myojin Shrine (around the corner). Excellent coffee, cheesecake and matcha (without sugar).
• Statue of Liberty: In Odaiba City, a cool visit.
• Unicorn Gundan Statue: Also in Odaiba City..it is massive, a life-sized statue of what Gundam would be like IRL.
• Small Worlds Museum: I visited the one in Canada, and this one was beautiful too.
• A-Pit Super Autobacs: For all you car lovers out there. It also sold clothing, toys, decorations, and other useful items.
• Ginza Itoya: Stationery, pens, notebooks.. my goodness. Iconic for good reason. Look out for the Ichikudo Next Journey Calendars which release every September 1st and sell out like crazy.
• Mitsukoshi: Giant department store. Lots of high-end brands, beautiful luxury goods from Japan. I got a lot of decorative chopstick holders and ceramics here.
• Tokyo Midtown Hibiya: High-end shopping mall. Also has a theatre. Head to the very top of the building to get a free view of part of Tokyo. Notable stores: Today’s Market, Smith’s (stationery and bags), and Tempo Hibiya (home goods and jewellery).
• Tokyu Hands Ginza: A variety store of stationery, bags, electronics, you name it.
• Waho-An Nature Tokyo: Magical masseuse. Seriously worth the money. It hurts like hell but man, your muscles will thank you. It is located in a nice neighbourhood too, quiet and not touristy. Lots of vintage shops there.
• Tsukiji Outer Fish Market: Touristy yes, but still fun! They no longer let you into the real auction area.
• Tsukiji Hitachiya: One of the best stores I have visited to buy kitchenware and supplies. Located in the Tsukiji Fish Market.
• Nagomi Matcha: Near the Tsukiji Fish Market. Only take the hot matcha; cold isn’t worth the trouble and the cakes were awful.
• Sushiyoshi: Family run sushi shop, very slow service but delicious and generous portions.
• Tsukiji Sushi-Say: Omakase was out of this world. Delicious and filling with a very upscale vibe.
• Shinpachi Shokudō Shibuya Meijidōri: Shokudōs are very cheap restaurants, this particular one was grilled fish and we ate there twice in a day, it was so good.
• Sushi Wasabi Shibaura: Cheap and very filling while being of very high quality at the same time.
• Good Cheese Good Pizza: The cheese is made fresh from Hokkaido milk on the daily. Try the simpler tried & true recipes like Margherita, not the fancy stuff, and take anything with that amazing mozzarella. Might be the best pizza I have had to date.
• Butter Butler: Their butter cakes are heavenly. I devoured them all.
• Shutters: Come here for the hot apple cake thing covered in ice cream. We tried almost all of them and loved it.
• Maguro Ichidai Hibiya: Best sushi in all of Tokyo. Located under a train track near the very expensive Marunochi area (I loved shopping there too)
• Sakae Izakaya: Grilled food, sushi, a good overall place to eat a variety of things for a reasonable price.
• Ichiran Ramen: It is a chain, but don’t let that stop you. Delicious.
• Gyukatsu Motomura Akihabara Branch: You cook your own pork cutlets on your very own grill. So incredibly delicious.