Pasport Kaunter

To get a passport in Malaysia:

1) Go to the local Government Offices - in our case 15 minutes down the road past the Istana Negara (Royal Palace - I must try and blip that)

2) Go to the kaunter and fill in the necessary forms. Take a ticket.

3)Wait for you number to be announced, just like Argos

4) Go to a different kaunter. Those for babies, young children and older people are fast track and start with '2'

5) Fill in pasport form, affix your thumbprint along with a digital image of your thumb and get your photo taken which goes direct to the PC. White background, dark top, face straight on, bland expression and your ears should be showing, unless you're wearing the headscarf that is.

6) Go back to wait till your number is called again and go to a third kaunter to pay.

7) Go home, or to the kafeteria, for an hour

8) Return, collect pasport.

Done and dusted in a few hours. In our case about 3, including travel time. And that was for 2 passports as # 1 d in l had realised hers had expired but being the mother of a baby she also got fast track.

Now the observant of you will have remembered that a few days ago we went to considerable lengths, and stress, to have Olivia's photograph taken for her pasport. But it seems new rules mean that the photographs have to be taken at the passport office. As it before 10 she was sound asleep but she had to be upright, swathed in a black scarf to cover her not dark babygro sitting on her mum's knee, herself swayed in a special white shroud like garment to act as a white background. It took ages of propping and moving and tucking and trying hard not to cry but eventually an acceptable photo emerged. It does, however, make her look more like a dead baby than anything else (b&w) and it will be unrecognisable as her when she's a year old.

So here are the grannies waiting at stage 6, before our late breakfast/early lunch.

And it had been an early start. I was up and 6 to say bye bye to #1 son off to Myanamar for 5 nights and take over baby duties while WH drove him to Sentral and then went to the bank. Then after a feed we sent off before 9 for the passport office, Olivia's first outing in her car seat - life is full of firsts when you are not quite 4 weeks old.

Once we got home after midday it was another feed and then I went for a swim, before taking over with Olivia while her mum went to the office for a couple of hours. Maternity leave is very short her - 2 months paid but as WH runs her own company he is not really taking any time.

Olivia slept all afternoon, I sewed cats and listened to 'Woman's Hour' - Julia Gillard was brilliant. I may get her book. I Skyped called my mum to be told the weather is beautiful back home, 20 deg I see from my central heating control. It was cool here this morning 25 deg, then it went up to 30 and back down to 27/28 but it's been very, very humid.

So it is just the 3 of us tonight. Olivia is a bit fractious, having slept mots of the dayand I had a first too, my first 'Downton Abbey'!