When we went around to the back, a couple of guys saw us snooping around and came out to question us. It turned out that they were Mei-O and Meihui's old childhood neighbors, and a lot of time was spent recalling old times! I don't know what they did there, but the courtyard we stood in was a mess! The shirtless guy (who Mei-O said wasn't that close of a neighbor. She just barely remembered him) wanted to show off how strong he was by doing a headstand on the hard ground. He held it for a about 10 seconds, got back upright, then immediately left the area without saying a word. He didn't come back. But we came to see what was left of the old house...

...and this was it. Even worse than the last time we saw it nine years ago, I'm surprised it hasn't been demolished yet. (Meihui says the plan is to demolish it and develop the neighborhood, probably adding some more University of Sports facilities) soon. That'll affect a lot of people currently living in the neighborhood.)

Leaving the courtyard behind the old house, we came down a small lane to this little neighborhood store. Mei-O sued to buy stuff here; little 10¢ candies and stuff her mom and dad sent her to buy. It was still here after all these years. After all the walking and the heat and sun, I was really thirsty, so Mei-O bought me a can of this from the little store she shopped at 70 years ago.

福德祠 (Fude Temple) is just a short walk from the old house. It's a small local temple serving the people of the nearby neighborhoods. (Mei-O's mom used to baibai (i.e., pray) there.) The main altar has some nice idols on it, while this one stood front and center. There is also a beautiful incense burner which had just a few sticks of incense burning in it while we were there. This old tree sits in the temple courtyard with this plaque on it.

It was now late enough to head back to 一中街; the 大雞排 stand should be open by now. We walked past 台中一中 High School's athletic field where a lot of action was going on, then arrived at...

...一中街. Walking down the not-yet-crowded street, we eventually arrived at 一中豪大雞排 which was now open! Besides their "Great Chicken Cutlets", they also served a lot of other snacks (which Mei-O and Meihui contemplated momentarily), but I was only interested in their signature item, a 大雞排! And that was all we bought.

So we left 一中街, walking down one of the side lanes which branched off the main street (also lined on both sides with shops) and headed over to a nearby bustop to...

...catch a bus (a somewhat crowded bus) that would take us back to our hotel.

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