Passport renewal blues

My passport is expiring this coming September after the last 5 years of under-use. I was going to let it lapse and not renew it before, but then some things happened which would require an up-to-date passport. Like my cousin's wedding in Sydney. I know I could renew it later closer to departure, but I don't want to do that to myself. I suddenly want to travel down to Singapore to watch The Addams Family Musical that's happening in July. I also wanted to do it before the mid-year school holidays next weekend, where it's also notoriously bad.

I'm ranting on here because goodness knows people that know/knew me IRL are probably tired of my grousing/bitching/kvetching about the situation on Facebook.

When I last renewed back in the previous decade, the passport renewal kiosks were just implemented. Now there's an online renewal option: where you could do it online and then go the your selected immigration office to pick your brand new passport a few hours later. 

I don't know if it's just my bad luck, or because it's after elections or some other weird coincidence, but what the fuck: 

1. NOW you have to take your mug shots on a WHITE background, 
2. I can't do the online option (collection centres in the drop down menu are all outside the Klang Valley at the moment), and 
3. the kiosks are offline. So if I was in a bigger rush, I would have to do it manually; it's like the freaking 90s all over again.

Went to the one nearest to me this morning (Plaza Glomac) and it was like a freaking ZOO outside at 9 something on a weekday morning. Decided to cut my losses and leave. Luckily I got a copy of the form (which is now a 4 x 4 inch square at most) and a list of immigration offices in the Klang Valley so that I can now call ahead and harass them beforehand.

Passports in an hour. Pbft.

Oh, woe is me.