Welcome!
Hi, I’m Christian, the creator of Midnight Ramen. Thanks for stopping by!
Welcome to Midnight Ramen, a travel blog dedicated to exploring cities across Asia. The aim of the site is to document my travel journeys, as well as provide useful, practical, and detailed travel-related content for readers, essentially the answers to the kinds of travel questions I always find myself Googling before a trip. The site particularly focuses on detailed travel itineraries, information on where to stay based on my own personal experiences, finding the best travel gear, and providing useful travel-related resources, all to help (and hopefully inspire) you to explore the world!
A bit about me
If you haven’t already guessed, I like travelling – a lot! I have a penchant for making overly detailed travel itineraries and trying to find the perfect travel gear (especially backpacks). So I’ve created this blog as a way to document my experiences and share with others the best bits from my travels.
Born in Melbourne Australia, which is where I grew up, after completing a couple of uni degrees (and getting the associated university debt that goes with it – uhg!) and then working for 6 years in an office, I decided to do set out on a journey to travel the world – hence, this website was born!
My Travel Style
I am an obsessive trip planner. I don’t want to waste a minute when I travel, so I tend to research every option and plan out the details. If you are going to spend all that money and may only visit a place once in your life, I think it is worth doing properly. That does not mean every second needs to be rigidly scheduled. I still like leaving room for random wanderings, unexpected discoveries, and those little moments that usually end up being the best part of a trip.
Most of the time, I travel fairly cheaply when it comes to accommodation and transport — budget hotels, local restaurants, public transport, cheap flights, that kind of thing. But I will splurge every now and then, whether that means staying a night or two in a nice hotel or treating myself to a fancy meal. Both of which I thoroughly enjoy.
I usually do my own trip research and create my own itineraries rather than joining tours. I love wandering around aimlessly to get a feel for different neighbourhoods, and I especially enjoy things that give you a glimpse into local life — markets, random backstreets, local malls, libraries, universities, gardens, and everyday places that might not make it onto the usual tourist lists. That said, I also love the big tourist attractions. You will still find me doing the famous viewpoints, temples, towers, museums, night markets, and all the obvious things. Basically, I want to experience as much as I can 🙂
I also enjoy travelling solo. I find it gives me more space to properly absorb a place, follow my own curiosity, and meet other travellers along the way — which is easily one of the best parts of travelling. For each place I visit, I try to stay long enough to get a proper feel for it, while also trying as many experiences as possible. That then feeds into the travel guides and itineraries I create for this site.
When putting together guides, I use a lot of different resources, including my own experience, online research, and local recommendations. I always try to catch up with locals where I can, so hopefully you will find a recommendation or two here that is not on every other list.
In terms of travel gear – when you are a long-term traveller living out of a single backpack, you are forced to become a fairly minimalist packer. And honestly, I think that starts to spill over into the rest of your life. I am continually searching for the “one best item” in each category — usually something lightweight, practical, durable, and multi-purpose. I will keep updating my gear page as I test out more items over time. If you have any recommendations, please leave a comment in one of my posts and let me know!
Wow… still reading?!
Travelling, and especially this website, have also sparked my interest in photography. While it can be a bit of a pain to lug around camera gear (and worry a bit about it getting stolen) hopefully some of the photos throughout the site make it worth it. If you are interested in seeing some of my favourite shots, head to my gallery page.
P.S. In 2026, I also started a walking video channel called Midnight Ramen Walks (link), to give people even more of a feel for the places I visit.
For those wanting to know even more, here are a few extra bits about me:
- I am the youngest of eight children.
- Growing up I wanted to be a professional tennis player.
- I have completed two university degrees.
- I suffer from a condition known as severelackofeyebrows.
- I like planning.
- I am a bit of an Excel and Notion nerd (iykyk).
— Christian
Flights
I use Skyscanner (which is the best flight comparison tool out there in my opinion) and Google Flights, however once you find the flight you’re after – make sure to double check the airline’s website as well.
Accommodation
For travelling around most of Asia, Agoda is typically my first pick, and then Booking.com which typically has the most flexible booking policies. And for China, Trip.com is typically the best option.
Logistics
When I need to do more comprehensive logistical planing than just Google Maps I use Rome2Rio or for trains ManInSeat61 is amazing.
Activites
For booking ativiteies and deciding on things to do, I typically use Klook or GetYourGuide. Other options are Viator, Expedia or Tripadvisor. And again, in mainland China Trip.com is the most comprehensive.
I have travel insurance 100% of the time as you never know what might happen. I have tried a few over the years and my current recommendations is WorldNomads. Also, many credit cards offer travel insurance as part of their package, so check to see if you are covered.
Connection
For e-Sim I recommend gabbing one off Klook or using Airalo. And for VPN, my main one I use is NordVPN, and for China I also have a couple backups – ExpressVPN and LetsVPN.
Pack
There are too many to list here – so please check out my preferred travel gear, camera gear and packing list guide here.
If you want to check out the FULL list of Resources – click here
I got a visitor – YAYYYY!!!!!
Hello!こんにちは！Hej!你好ہیلو!สวัสดี!Ciao!안녕하세요!Bonjour!Hej!नमस्ते!¡Hola!Xin chào!привет!مرحبًا!Hallo!
Welcome to Midnight Ramen, a travel blog focused on the big cities of Asia (and a few smaller cities too), thanks for stopping by! The aim of the site is to provide useful, practical, and detailed travel-related content for readers – in particular detailed travel itineraries and resources – all in order to help (and hopefully inspire you) explore the world!