smoking will kill... 1 billion people

i decided to take my parents advice and meet more people rather than buildings for a change. after all, the end users of architecture are the humans and i should get to know better of the species. haha. and so for the first time, buildings were less thought of and a more human oriented focus was adopted. i even picked Conrad over my usual architectural readers for the plane ride back home to KK.
So for the past few days, i have been in and out of the house seeing old friends. friends i've not seen for the last 5-8 years, which were quite a number of them. It's amazing that even after so many years, no one has really drastically changed apart from the physical bit for a few.
Suffice it to say, the most talked about topic was nonetheless about money. and everyone are making their plans of how they can make their monetary breakthrough, all hoping sooner than later.
at times i feel like an idiot sitting through these conversations. thinking I must be living in a world of solipsism. something is wrong with me for being purely interested in architecture and not eyeing to run after for the big bucks. of course i do yearn for a luxurious lifestyle and job opportunities, but all architecturally related.
Everyone wants to venture into the business sector. no one is deeply passionate about their current work, but only the incentives it gives. instead, most hate their jobs and dream to retire and relax as soon as they have the chance. only me being the odd one who sees my architectural pursuance being eternal. perhaps i'm still very optimistic of my life in the profession. due to my insufficient working experience. only being out for a year, i probably have not truly felt and experience the wrath/jaded effect of the working world.
However, one thing is for sure that we all can agree on is the fact that we're all being underpaid!

Finally some wedding bells within the circle. it is indeed a joyous occasion when one of your friends are tying the knot. just the other day, i was talking to my parents about marriages within my circle of friends and realizing maybe my group of friends are undoubtedly a pathetic bunch of hopeless fellas being nowhere near the stage of making prenuptial agreements.
Perhaps everyone is waiting around for each other to make that first step. For the bunch of guys i know, marriage seems to be somewhat of an embarrassment. no one wants to be the first to enter into the realm of fatal amalgamation. But at the end of the day... WE are still very young to be thinking of stepping into such territories. for sure its a thought that will never cross our minds, atleast for the remaining singles.
back to my friend, he was indeed reluctant and slightly scared to share such an auspicious occasion to me. it took him 3 days to finally blurt the thing out. ofcourse it is still to be kept in the dark. However, there is a reason for the early invitation. dad warns of having to eat shit on the groom's behalf- literally. nevertheless, still very honored indeed. muahaha! So that was the important news... 1 down... 8 to go!