Thursday 17^th June, 2021 1715

These delays at the passport office are infuriating!

Two weeks ago Tuesday my application was lodged in Shanghai and my new passport never arrived until yesterday!

Ok so the above is very firmly tongue in cheek, I doubt I could have gotten it much quicker by post if I was in the UK. Roland sent it via courier at noon today so I should have it either tomorrow or Saturday. Plenty of time to deal with all the nonsense involved here and get it back ready for my big adventure, travelling with one or maybe two young ladies, doing what I normally do – letting her/them explore while I sample the beers! I may just try to take taxis to tourist attractions and get some snaps to post on the blog though but I ain't hiking up mountains or trekking miles as they are wont to do. Bugger that. I did all that when I was capable of it. Now a hundred yard totter puffs me out.

But I will be doing it with a proper black passport at last! And nobody try to correct me and say it's blue because it isn't! I have a certificate to say I am not colour blind – a prerequisite to being a navigator.

So we have gone from having a week of lovely warm weather to my having to wear a jacket again these past two days. It's almost enough to make me switch on my heater again.

Mr Jing Jo is going to hate me soon. So far with this “competition” the Snow beer company is running I have taken in two lots of six winning riptops to him and I am sitting here now with another nine waiting to be claimed!

Roland has just been sending me photos of Doc Martens airwear shoes on sale in Shanghai as a result of my whingeing I cannot find any shoes that have “bounce” up here. If he thought I was bluffing then he has called it – except I wasn't. What it didn't realise was that the bloody things cost about £150 a pair! I hope they last because I intend to get two pairs. I must try and find my polish and brushes though, haven't really needed them for a while, what with wearing trainers........