Despite my mother’s jaw-cracking cringe upon overhearing the line from “You Only Live Twice,”
“…in Japan men come first, women come second,”
in 1985, I sat in front of the Saturday night TV in complete awe of Mr. Bond.
Although my progressive mother feared I’d grow up wanting to be the women in the Bond films, I actually wanted to be 007 himself. Sophisticated, intelligent, athletic, cool, and at ease any place in the world. Never jet-lagged, not a hint of “Delhi Belly,” and never needed to search for an ATM at midnight in a foreign airport while being hounded by touts.
Was Ian Flemming’s creation really just one big glossy airline and tourism advert? If so, I totally bought in.
Reflecting back on my travels, I’ve passed through a handful of filming locations, though my experiences have been rather more pedestrian than Mr. Bond’s:
The soon to be released, “Skyfall,” was partially filmed in Shanghai and features a nighttime car chase through Pudong. I pushed a stroller around The Bund once while wearing long underwear and my daughter’s ski hat.
I’m still glad I bought into the glam-travel myth.
Simply and brilliantly put. And those Venn diagrams were so worth it. π
The Venn diagrams were fun to make, actually now that I really think about it, way more fun that gambling in Macau! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Hi Jen! Hahahaha!… Love these Venn Diagrams! π Hey, I just saw that your blog was featured on WP’s expat blog sample! Big congrats and keep those hilarious comics coming! http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/focus-on-expat-life-blogs/
Being featured was a nice start to the weekend!
Well put! Love the Venn Diagrams.
Still not as funny as your spreadsheet breaking down how your Chinese-Canadian parents categorize Caucasian men!
Very funny! Never quite like the movies, is it?
Indeed! (and sometimes for the better!)
Another great post – I’ve stayed at that hotel in Udaipur as well. Beautiful! Congrats on the daily post mention. You deserve it!
Thanks very much!
I thought it was so funny that half the “backpacker” cafes in Udaipur had a daily evening showing of Octopussy.
Yeah it never is quite like the movies but we can always dream! James Bond always was ans continues to be very cool. Loved reading about your parallel lives.
He is so cool. I used to think Sean Connery could have no equal, but Daniel Craig pretty damn cool too (and with less misogyny!).
Haha – that’s such a funny post. Where do you get your creative ideas from? Did you watch too many James Bond movies for this one? π
Sadly, I think I spent far too many Saturday nights between the ages of 10 and 14 watching James Bond movies!
Such a refreshingly unique idea for a post. Who didn’t want to be Bond himself? I used to prance around my primary school hallways in Bond(girl) mode. So glad I found your blog!
Thanks very much Jessica! I can completely relate to your primary school experience: in 5th grade I insisted that my nickname was 007 and was over the moon that my initials were the same as James Bond…. So dorky.
You know you are famous when the New York Times starts copying your ideas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/business/global/vanity-plates-a-perfect-match-for-flashy-hong-kong.html?_r=1
Your blog is baller. Hope to meet you someday here in HK for drinks.
Cheers Ned
Sent from the iPhone of ngc
Wow, for once in my life am I on the cusp of cool? Thanks a million for taking the time to share this article; I would have missed it otherwise. Cheers and thanks for the compliment, Jen
Great post. I didn’t know JB was to come to Shanghai… I think it’s been so over-done already – MI3, Tranformers, even Tomb Raider…
But James Bond is so much cooler…. Cheers, Jen
Laughing softly . . . . your slack-jawed mother.
π
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