I started the day with some dim sum at a local Chinatown restaurant up the street from the hostel I'm staying at. A tasty way to start the day.
Then I went back to the Protestant Cemetery to take more photos before heading to the Jewish Cemetery. Penang once had a small but active Jewish community, which sadly has dwindled practically to nothing. Standing testament to their life and contributions here is this small and oft-overlooked cemetery.
As I walked up to the gate, the cemetery caretaker, a kind man, let me in and pointed out a few of the more notable graves. About half of them have inscriptions that are completely in Hebrew.
Then I continued on to search for the Western Road Cemetery. I decided to take a shortcut, and ended up taking a long-cut. I knew what streets I had to go to (Western Road and Brown Street), but forget asking around: the locals have terrible sense of direction, and I was steered wrong. Then when I came to the right intersection, the cemetery itself turned out to be hard to find.
After walking a kilometer each way along Western Road, I came to a furniture store called American Accents. The people there must speak English! I went in, and the nice Chinese couple who run the place told me how to find the place. Even after following his clear directions, I still ended up going on some dead ends. I walked up the road toward Youth Park. A British couple drove by and offered me a lift: they didn't know where the cemetery was, but I told them to keep driving until I saw graves. 50 feet up the road, there they were!!
Now I had to find the gate! Turns out I had to walk all the way back to the main road (Western Road). And there, in an innocuous driveway, right at the Western Road/Brown Street intersection, was the cemetery. The only sign on the road is a faded, easily overlooked sign saying, cryptically, "Jamb Jln Utama Cemetery No-6". Whodathunkit?
No English signs at all, odd for what is supposed to be the largest Christian cemetery in Penang, with the graves of many British colonials and military personnel. It was right there all the time, but it's so hidden (you can't see the graves from the street) that it took me an hour to find it! (This is why I do my graving trips solo...it tries people's patience!)
Here's the gate:
Seems I forgot something...Oh yes: food!!
On the way to the cemetery I found a true gem of a hawker center. On the way I had asam laksa, a spicy, sour noodle soup that's a local specialty.
On the way back, I stopped at the same center and had koay tiao, a fried noodle dish popular through much of Southeast Asia.
Now I'm getting hungry again!!
