I go back to Austria all the time

April 15, 2026

Maybe one day I'll get to live in a city with all the people I love

Labuan. Who would've thought this is the city I need to call home, perhaps for the next few years in my life. I hate finding myself counting down to the days I can escape from this place when I'm supposed to find comfort here — a place I find my peace, a place that feels like home. Sometimes, I wonder what it feels like to live in a city with all the people I love. With everyone I miss. Would it feel like Southampton — home to my favourite people, the city where I spent some of my crucial years? Or would it feel like Kudat, a place rooted deep within me yet somehow a little unfamiliar each time I return. Maybe Labuan isn't meant to be home in the way Southampton was, or in the way my future city will be. Maybe, this is just a chapter. A quiet, in-between space where I'm allowed to feel both sense of belonging and detachment. And still, maybe, just maybe, this is all I need right now. Living alone, away from everyone. Just so I can find myself, be my most authent...

This time last year, I went to travel to Austria. To be honest, Austria has never been on my travel list. But this picture of Hallstatt (where I finally able to capture it by myself) kept popping up on my Instagram, this was when I knew I needed to visit this place! It was a 5 days trip over the winter. Flew from London Stansted and what I saw minutes before I landed on Salzburg airport made me so excited. The view from the airplane was magnificent. The whole land was literally covered in snow. Growing up in a summer all year-round country, snow always thrilled me, and I inevitably jumped in excitement when there’s white snow covering the ground or even when there’s a sleet. It’s such a novelty.

I remember the early morning train journey from Salzburg to Zell Am See. I felt like I was in Narnia! I had to leave Salzburg early in the morning, which means not enough sleep so I was planning to sleep in the train, but you guess right, how can I sleep through the breathtaking view. My friend and I went to ski but it didn’t went quite well so we were just enjoying the view in the ski resort.

The morning I woke up in Obertraun, I knew I needed to put on my outfit to take lots of photographs outside the chalet we were staying. The view is SubhanAllah, I can’t express it in words. When we arrived in Hallstatt, I found it overrated but I definitely was not disappointed with the view. There’s always something special with a place covered in snow, especially when there’s mountain, lake, and little houses all in one place! How perfect is that?

If I could go back to any December, undoubtedly I would go to the time I spent December in Austria!