Get yourself a copy of a Lonely Planet first and foremost for whatever country you decide to go to. They're a friggin bible when it comes to extended holidays.
I've been all over Korea, spent a few days in Singapore, and then 11 months getting drunk in Australia. If you are travelling on a budget I would spend as little time as possible in Korea or Singapore (it's REALLY expensive) and hit places in Malaysia or Vietnam. I've heard Vietnam is really cheap and is a pretty cool place to see, so I'd head there if possible.
Australia is a little easier...where do you fly in? If you fly into Sydney spend a day or two in places like Bondi Beach, but don't get stuck there too long. It's pricey and you'll spend all your money pretty fast.
I lived in Byron Bay for 3 months, and it was pretty killer. I'd check it out, it's about 4hrs north of Sydney. Right on the a stretch of hundreds of miles of continuous beaches, loads of hostels, good restaurants, and home to "Bay Kababs", the best Kabab you will eat. In the world. Guaranteed. Check out Nimbin when you're there, as well as the Jazz and Blues festival over Easter, some of the best in the world play it. I met Ben Harper at a bus stop one of the days it was going on.....
Further up the coast is Noosa Heads, which is alright. Similar to Byron, but a little smaller. There used to be a burger joint (can't remember the name) that sold 3 burgers for $5 if you are short on funds. They also book tours into Fraser Island from there IIRC. I did a great impression of the drunkest man alive while on a 4 wheel drive tour of Fraser island, launched our 4X4 through a river, saw some of the clearest lakes in the world, and had my shoes stolen by a dingo all in 3 days. Good fun.
North of Noosa is Brisbane, which is a good place to see as well. No surf or anything, but I really liked the city. Monday nights were "Monday night boat races" at the Story Bridge Hotel, which is a cheap and quick way to get drunk. The Harey Krishna's (sp?) are pretty prevalent in Brisbane as well, and you can eat at their temples (it's vegetarian) for $3 a meal. Some are free, but you have to listen to a sermon.
Further North are the Whitsundays, which are good. There are some decent sailing trips going out of them. Kinda pricey, but fun. North Queensland is also home to most of the Fruit picking in Oz, which is a job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Avoid it at all costs, and if you do it spend as little amount of time as possible there and save your money to get out. I saw a lot of people spend 6 months of their "holiday" in some backwater town picking cucumbers. Stay away from a town called Bowen!!! Go to Bundaberg for the rum, and not for work!!! ALL the hostel owners are scumbags in those towns.
Check out West Oz if you can, it's really really good. Margaret River especially.
Hope some of that helps......my advice as someone who has done what you're doing is to spend as much time as humanly possible seeing the world, and don't come back until you absolutely have to. I spent $6500 in 1 1/2 months, and almost came home, which would have been one of the biggest mistakes in my life. The best thing I ever did is get a job and scrape by living like a hermit on as little money as possible.
Oh yeah, watch out for Fruity Lexia....it used to $4 for 4 litres, and while the idea sounds great, trust me it ain't.
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