Thanks... what would you say is the best time for exploring around Chang Mai, would there be much difference between Nov and Feb? I like to travel on my own and that seems possible here, but wouldn't want it to be too hot.

Brunei is indeed not one of the more obvious ones, and I'm also a little worried that it gets boring quickly. Need to do a little more research on that. But I guess that's the case for most places you mentioned.

I was in Taiwan quite a while ago... Taipei is nice for a day, but the countryside was better, with some spectacular places. Didn't see any beach when I was there :-).