Day dreaming and ranting

This year is going by fast! I did not get a chance to plan any trip and 2007 is almost here. Work is always going to be busy so it's really up to me to make plans for myself before the project's execution phase starts. Since this year will be a significant wedding anniversary for my parents, I have decided to make a trip to Hong Kong and stop by Japan on my way back to US. I am so tempted to plan out my travel that it's making me unable to focus on my work. I love to travel and do research on places to visit and restaurants to try. It has been 6 years since I had been back to Hong Kong and this time I am more ambitious to see more than to shop more. I will plan a short trip to China (which I have never been) and to Macau (which I also have not stepped foot on yet!) I plan to research on all the worth going places and take my dad along. He is quite an explorer himself and can walk for hours from morning to night if you just give him his 3 coffees during the day.
Recently I have been dreaming and thinking back my years growing up in Hong Kong a lot. Hong Kong has definitely changed (for the worse, I think) a lot. I had a wonderful childhood in a much less populated HK with everything more personal, accessible and convenient. My mom used to take us along to pick dad up at his office at Connaught Center. She would wait in the car and my sister and I would play at the ひろば that was part of the building. If my dad comes out from the building, we could easily spot him and run up to him. If he is tied up with work, we will just tell the building security guard that we are here to see our dad at xx floor with XXX Corporation. He will let us take the elevator and we at age 7 & 9 will go to our dad's company and wait at the lobby. The reception girl will help us call our dad and we will talk to him and ask him how much longer? Sometimes we can sneak in to his office to wait for him and talk to some of his colleagues. Then we will help my dad gather his stuff and walk out hand in hand back to the car.
But could this happen to any kids in HKG today? Unlikely. First, you won't be able to see your dad walking out of any building in Central from 5-7:30pm. All you see is a sea of people marching out of buildings. Second, you won't see any kids 7 or 9 playing outside any business building at the fountain or stairs. Third, no kids will be going up to any office building, they will probably be asked to wait outside. Is that something still achieveable in US? Yes, I would think so but that's because we don't work in any high-rise building here. But anyway, life is definitely less friendly and more fast paced. We are expected to get more done in a day than before and everyone is a high achiever. The world has made quantum leaps since then without realizing what small prices were paid along the way. Our quality of life probably has not improved much as we are more stressed with more life demands. So a trip to unwind and to spend more time with family is definitely the thing to do at our long-before-retirement age. If I don't make it happen, it just won't happen!!
I plan to research on a new digital camera for this trip, too, eventhough I was really hoping to buy something that is to be released in 2007. :-/ Anyways... life is really too short to be bothered by these small details. The key is to keep that payroll check coming and we keep living life!