I've travelled quite a lot to SE Asia - particularly HK and China, also Japan and Korea (not quite SE Asia), Indonesia and Thailand. Haven't lived there though, but was working as a consultant, so would go out for week-10 days at a time.

I always found it interesting in this region in how I was treated if travelling with a male colleague. In many of the countries, when with a male colleague, I'd become invisible, and everything would be addressed to him - however, I've also experienced this in Europe as well no nothing new there

I complained to the manager of the Bangkok Hilton about my inability to get served when sat in the bar by myself, but service was immediate when joined by any of the other people on the trade mission - at the same hotel, bar bills were always presented to men, even if I'd asked for them...

Korea and Japan were the most difficult to work in terms of being a woman - I discovered if I ignored it, so did the people I worked with (mostly), although I quickly realised that women do not shout in the street in Japan and they shouldn't know how to hold guns in Korea - that was very amusing Korean (male) drivers also thought that when they saw me driving a company 4WD I'd be an easy mark at lights - shame it was a big powerful 4WD, and I'm very used to driving them OTOH, being a girly can get you a free pass as well - I got pulled by the Korean traffic police (so far as I knew, I was completely legal at the time), and after I smiled a lot they let me go... Officialdom out there tends to assume that women make mistakes if doing things not quite allowed and corrects them and sends them on their way - I wouldn't push this in China however.....

In China, women don't generally drink at banquets. I do, which instantly makes me a target in the drinking games - but if I'm mentally prepared, I'm ready for it.

On the other side however, I spent an afternoon with a random Korean girl who wanted to practice her english (she met me at the museum randomly), and that was fascinating, because we were swapping how the cultures were in the UK and Korea towards women - I don't think I'd have had that opportunity as a man. I also found that since most translators in Korea are women, I would try and take the opportunity to speak to them as well, and they were generally amazingly helpful and supportive - I'm not sure if there was a gender difference there or not, but the girl I got to know best would try and keep me right on the cultural rules I tended to break without realising - that was definitely a feeling of girl assistance....

That's some ramblings of my experiences out there - not sure if that was what you were asking, but its what I experienced....