Need suggestions on trip from HKG to Perth

Hello,

I am planning a trip, from Hong Kong to Australia.
Here is the route ( which means, those airtickets are prebooked, for country entries and other reasons )
Strating from Hong Kong - Phlippines - Malaysia - Indonesia - Thailand - Singapore - Australia .
The prebooked tickets may include, HKG to Manila, Manila to Cebu, Cebu to Kota Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu to Jakarta, Jakarta to Bali, Bali to Bangkok, Bangkok to Singapore, Singapore to Perth. I have been to Kuala Lumpur earlier. This set of tickets is the cheapest one I checked, and does not include transpotation within a country. If you know better ones, welcome to suggest.

Around 15 days in each countries, completely flexible though, I think I will be travelling alone. Maybe meet some other people on the road.

I am not quite sure I am going or not, and when, because of the budget problem.

Those are some of my plans.
And my questions are,

I want more of culture experience during the trip, and, of course, there are a lot of nature beauty in the countries listed. I would realy like to relax at the lovely beach.
Could you suggest me some places to go? ex. some islands, anything is fine.

And, more important is, how much budget should I prepare for this trip, excluding the Australia part. Some of my friends are there, that will be a different story.

Thanks everyone.

Paul

( Same topic on Thorn tree )

Hong Kong, Philippines, Sabah (Malaysia), Thailand then down through Malaysia proper to Singapore, across to Indonesia, through there to Bali and north Australia heading south along the east coast. That way you don't keep doubling back on yourself and work mostly in one direction.

There is not much in the Philippines. I would have said 5 days but your interests may differ and you may want more. Sabah/Malaysia depends on how much you want to see there.

Lots to see in Thailand. Bangkok, hill country to the north and beaches down south. It deserves more than 15 days.

Not really that much in Malaysia (proper). Penang. You've already seen KL. For me, that's it but others may disagree. Is it worth you going to Singapore via Cambodia?

Singapore is worth maybe 5 days but you'd struggle to see anything new after that.

Indonesia has a fair bit to see. You can get around by bus, train and boat. You could manage 15 days going through Sumatra and Java. Don't miss Yogyakarta.

Bali has been heavily commercialised for decades now. 5 days is ample there. Less maybe.

From Darwin down to Melbourne deserves a lot more than 15 days. Tasmania is only an hour's flight from Melbourne.

AirAsia will provide cheap flights to most of the places you want. Be aware that you cannot cancel once booked and that if you want to change dates, it is very expensive, so get it right first time. For Australia, it is normally cheaper to book internal flights before arrival. You of course need a visa. Thailand you get a 30 day one on arrival.

How much money? What you can spare. Most places are cheap (apart from Bali and Australia). Do beware of pick-pockets, notably Bangkok and Bali.

Thanks, Cyberia.

Do you mean fly from Cambodia to Singapore, I have checked the price. It could work. Also about air tickets, Jetstar has a great price from Bali to Darwin. That really helps a lot.

I have bought a Lonely Planet, Southeast Asia. I think I can find some places of interest in it, and need further planning.