Keep an eye out on pets and the elderly. If you’re going to do any outdoor activities, be sure to stay hydrated and if doing lots of physical activity, keep those electrolytes in balance with a sports drink.

If ever, especially at 103 degrees F, you start feeling chills — that’s a really bad thing. It means you are dehydrated. Stop whatever you’re doing and evaluate whether you should continue. I’ve been there on long bike rides and it’s a bad place to be. Be sure to drink before you’re thirsty — if you’re thirsty, it’s too late.

Personally, I think the best activities for weather like this is to check out a museum or two :) The South Bay has some great ones, to name a few:

• If you’ve got kids — there’s the Children’s Discovery Museum
• For the geeks at heart — there’s the Tech Museum of Innovation
• For the art lovers — there’s the San Jose Museum of Art
• For us… ummm… nerds - there’s the Computer History Museum

This is all, of course, an excuse to beat the heat.

The first leg of the ride will take cyclists to Santa Cruz, then to King City, Paso Robles, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Ventura and then Los Angeles for the closing ceremony.

Wondering why this is in San Jose Metblogs? It’s simple! I’m one of the 2500 cyclists who have raised a minimum of $2500 to raise over $11 million dollars for such an incredible cause.

Thanks to all who have contributed and supported me on this incredible journey. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Why? Because May 15 is Bike to Work Day!

As part of this exciting event, there will be a over 190 Engergizer Stations strategically placed throughout the Bay Area where volunteers will be handing out treats, tote bags and bicycling commute-related information.

It’s healthy! It’s economical! It’s environmentally friendly!

I’m taking part! You should too!

I can attest that most of San Jose is bike friendly. Riding 100+ miles a week, many areas of San Jose are a dream. However, there are still many areas that are less than desirable, mostly due to the deterioration of the bike routes, the roads, or simply the lack of a “safe space” for cyclists, particularly on overpasses and freeway entrances/exits.

Quite frankly, the article was a pleasant surprise! Hopefully our city government moves us from 3rd runner of of Most Improved to either the top 3, or runner up for best place to cycle!

I noticed this on my way to the Silicon Valley Flickr meet at Coffee Society in Campbell just this past Monday. I was struck at how few cars there were in the early evening. My somewhat monthly tradition of meeting up with my fellow photo-taking aficionados has always seen a fair amount of freeway traffic. However, the drive on Monday felt an awful like the traffic on San Jose freeways in the late 70’s and early 80’s… not a whole lot of cars out there. I also couldn’t help but notice the same after having dinner at Oakridge earlier today — 85 felt more like a country highway than a major city freeway.

The pain in higher fuel costs in combination with an increase in the cost of living are causing people to change their behavior. In a city that thrives on driving, and my recollections of economics, this is a really, really bad sign.

I hope this doesn’t go on for too long…

Personally, it doesn’t suprise me one bit. Living in San Jose most of my life, I’ve definitely noticed a change in both the city and its people… in a not so positive light. A few of my friends and co-works have commented on what we figured was a sense of self-entitlement with people in the area… ironically, we all work in technology — whose generalized affluence helped give San Jose the not-so-flattering title.

Read Forbes Americas Greediest Cities for a complete list.

According to this morning’s edition of the San Jose Mercury News, San Jose’s City Hall is now at peace after the “Little Saigon” fiasco. With that resolved, it also brings Ly Tong’s fasting to an end.

What happened? Apparently Vice Mayor Cortese’s earlier recommendation of private funding for signs along the area was heeded by councilman Sam Liccardo, along with Mayor Chuck Reed (Yay Dave! — I live in his district). What doesn’t appear to be clear from the article was whether Councilwoman Madison Nguyen was involved in drafting the proposal.

For now, it appears the city will be distancing itself from the issue.

The approach makes sense — why this was not done before things got out of control is a bit curious. Gauging various stories on the issue, most link the issue’s escalation to a lack of leadership by Mayor Chuck Reed. Whether that’s true or not is not for me to say… but something went wrong.

The path that the supporters of “Little Saigon” took is still a bit puzzling to me. The only thing I can think of is the emotions representative of a people who were displaced from their homes due to Communism led them to this path. There were those who strongly opposed any formal discussion of renaming this section of Silicon Valley real estate, while there were also those who were willing to pursue some recognition and preservation of their culture in a country they now call their home. I think this might be key to the whole thing. Yes… despite what naysayers may think, this is their home, just as the Italians, Irish, Chinese, Japanese and a countless number of immigrants made the good old U S of A their home. I think it’s probably fair to say that the same criticisms of the Vietnamese community can be equally extended to every immigrant group in American history.

Was this necessarily the right path? While it all seems a bit extreme, only time and history will tell. Also, despite the seeming polarization of the community, not to mention anyone who had something to say about the issue, I think we should consider what this means for everyone, not just the Vietnamese community.

What does this all mean? Well, thanks to some great professors I had in college many moons ago, and my involvement in my own community, I learned that mono-cultures breed fear and intolerance towards anyone that doesn’t blend in. In food speak, the reality is that our country is not a melting pot (I like to say fondue), it’s really a nice stew, where almost every ingredient is still recognizable. While not as refined as a fondue, each ingredient in it’s lumpy goodness is bathed in a thick gravy that suspends each ingredient uniquely, but in a single recipe to create a stew. That’s pretty much America - each culture is still uniquely identified but each is American.

What have we learned from this? In the end, probably nothing as politics goes.

However, as citizens, I think it’s easy to forget that we create the communities we live in… not some bureaucrat that said the right things to get voted into office. Maybe we should all create a little passion of our own to build the communities and the homes we want…

As my wife told me a long time ago, home is where we live, love and play… and that could be anywhere.

Having eaten at Jollibee in both the Philippines and in the United States — the American version is true to the original. While far from Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods, certain foods might provide a little bit of a surprise.

A Filipino favorite is Jollibee Spaghetti. What makes it different? It’s kind of like Spaghetti-O’s with slices of hot dog and carrots.  Pancit palabok is a tasty noodle concoction with a sauce that’s typically made of shrimp heads with crushed pork rinds, fried pork, shrimp, green onions with a hard boiled egg (pictured above). Another unique offering is their Chickenjoy meal - fried chicken served with brown gravy and white rice (I put the gravy on the rice). My personal favorite is the Filipino equivalent of salisbury steak served on white rice. I didn’t say it was healthy for you. Like Saab cars, people fall into two camps — people love it or they hate it….

If you’re in East San Jose, are hungry and looking for a change from the ordinary, Jollibee might be worth a trip.

Jollibee (San Jose)
2008 Tully Rd.
San Jose, CA 95122

http://www.jollibee.com.ph