Postcard from the Lake

Right. As promised, this is our update from our newly decluttered lives.

It’s been now 2 weeks since we jumped on a plane with our one-way ticket to Fukuoka, Japan. And it’s been 2 weeks of living out of just 2 suit cases each. I am writing this blog from our Airbnb apartment which measures a mere 300 square feet. Something we call “shoebox apartments” in Singapore which one of our Singapore real estate mogul famously labelled “inhuman” in which to live. But, hey, guess what, 300 square feet works just fine.

We got our dinner all sorted out in the tiny but well-equipped kitchen.

I got to do my yoga practice.

We even got to watch a free fireworks display outside our apartment on Christmas Eve.

More importantly, we learnt how to prioritise what we most needed. Not what we wanted. But just what we needed to survive. Anything else is just frill.

But seriously. When we packed our stuffs into just 2 suitcases, we were really worried that we won’t have enough stuffs with us. Now, we suddenly found out we still brought too much. There is that pair of shoes which are just sitting there and I have not worn them for the last 2 weeks in Fukuoka and the week before in Singapore. There are those 2 white shirts and that black suits which I also have no reasons to put on as I am hustling most days in my jeans and T-shirts. Guess I need to put in more efforts to #decluttermylife.

The fun thing about trying to launch a new startup in a strange city is that everything is new. We are learning every day new things, new skills and adding new knowledge. We are having to rely on our wits, trust our instincts and be scrappy enough to make do with whatever we can get our hands on. But the best part is all the new friends we are making along the way. Fellow startup entrepreneurs who are ever so helpful to share their experience and network of contacts. Other old-Fukuoka-hands who have been around the block and are so willing to lend us a hand without expecting anything back in return. And most amazing are the wonderful folks working at both the Fukuoka local government and the JETRO office who have been giving us plenty of guidance and support.

We have been putting in crazy hours trying to get through the red-tapes (yes, even with the most helpful and business-friendly government in Japan, there are still red-tapes), start some preliminary business development work, check out the sites and fine-tuning our business plan. Some days, we even totally lose track of the day of the week and have to be reminded that we are asking people to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (so sorry!)

I will blog about the Fukuoka startup landscape soon… but not yet. We have been talking to a lot of people and getting all sorts of mixed signals. What we read online and what we are seeing and hearing on the ground are not exactly aligned. So, there is still quite a bit of due diligence we want to do. But we think the delta ain’t that big. Fukuoka is still a young, vibrant and liveable city. We just need to get more startups to want to come here to launch their business from here. Hopefully, we will get a chance to play a part in making that happen.