I was in a similar position a couple years ago, and I can pass on the advice that I was given from financial planners/etc.

Much of the advice that can be given is dependent on what you want to do with your windfall. If you do bring in $1 MM or more, you theoretically will have enough to live out the rest of your life in a 4/5-star hotel on a beach somewhere. You could travel for a while, or just hang out, or you could try to turn that cash into something much larger. Personally, I've done all three, with different levels of personal satisfaction from each.

Depending on your age (are you closer to your 20s than to your 60s?), most financial planners will advise putting roughly 50% into higher risk investments (startups, riskier stocks, Forex baskets), and 50% into more conventional assets (real estate, investment funds, etc), with higher allocations to lower risk as you grow older.

I would definitely try to invest a large part of your wealth into assets that pay regular, well defined returns. The most conventional of these are real estate and dividend producing stocks. In real estate, there's small apartment complexes, rental houses, small office buildings, and other commercial properties. Generally, you can purchase these types of assets with a 10% down payment and will see a return of 7-9% over the long term. Generally, you should be able to secure a 30 year mortgage on a property with interest of roughly 3-4%. There are other types of conventional investments that also perform regularly, such as purchasing under-performing small businesses like small tool-and-die shops, or other small manufacturing concerns.

Much of it depends on your taste for risk. For instance, energy and commodity stocks, which can usually pay out good dividends are in freefall at the moment (due to the low price of oil). However that freefall won't last -- a well-timed purchase or sale could mean a 20% gain in a relatively short span. Additionally, Forex baskets are showing extremely great growth at the moment, with the right split between currencies. If you start monitoring these markets, you'll start to get a feel for when the peaks/valleys occur, and can invest accordingly. Generally, it is wise to spread out your higher risk investments into smaller baskets that can be easily changed/converted into other assets. Also, be wary of any investment managers who claim they can beat the market. They likely can't, and if they did before, it was due to a combination of luck, timing, and being in the right place at the right time. I have yet to meet someone who can reliably outwit the market.

If you have a taste for riskier investments, and since you have an engineering background (and are a short plane flight away from most of South East Asia), you might consider joining a small investment fund (or VC firm) that focuses on technology in SEA. There continues to be huge growth all over SEA (Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, etc). Many startups require very small investments ($50,000-$100,000), and you could theoretically invest in 5 or 10 at the same time, with the intention of later selling one at 15-20x and the others either returning less than the investment or roughly breaking even. Attend one of the regional tech conferences as an investor, and find some teams/products that you have confidence in and invest!

If you have an idea for a product or service in any business sector, I would highly suggest starting your own company and "giving it a go." In my experience, these types of ventures tend to have far better returns than any other, so long as you are judicious with your spending, and keep your company small and lean enough until it is able to narrow down on the right product/market segment fit. Once you have found the right product, then you scale like mad.

Remember: there's no reward without risk.