Silicon Valley 101: a helpful guide to exploring computer technology's capital - a virtual reality if there ever was one

Sunset, Feb, 1999 by Tish Williams

MING'S RESTAURANT & BAR. Take the size of a grand hotel's lobby and multiply it by four. Now you can picture Ming's, a sprawling Chinese restaurant across U.S. 101 from the rest of Palo Alto. Corporate gossip echoes off the ceiling. 1700 Embarcadero Rd., Palo Alto; (650) 856-7700.

DUTCH GOOSE. Many a Valley CEO spent long nights here, leaving his or her initials carved into one of the tables. Get a pitcher of hefeweizen, order a plate of spicy deviled eggs, and listen in on fresh-faced Stanford biz-school graduates arguing about business plans. 3567 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park; (650) 854-3245.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY. Don't call it the Harvard of the West or you might get clocked by an in-line skater. With sandstone buildings topped by Spanish tile roofs, majestic Memorial Church, economists toiling away in Hoover Tower, and a host of Nobel Prize winners, Stanford is home to many of the Valley's entrepreneurs. The university remains the hub that holds the Valley together. Campus tours: (650) 723-2560.

RELATED ARTICLE: Wired hotels

Charming, historic inns that don't have phones may be fine for the meandering troglodyte, but high-tech explorers need a wired establishment. These San Jose hotels are definitely plugged in. (Lodging packages, including Tech tickets: 888/726-5673 or www.sanjose,org.)

DOUBLETREE HOTEL. It offers cordless phones that work throughout the hotel, plus high-speed (T1) Internet access for your laptop. From $89. (800) 222-8733.

FAIRMONT HOTEL. The stomping ground of the chip moguls has fax machines and fast modem connectors in the rooms. From $89 (suites from $209). (800) 527-4727.

HILTON SAN JOSE & TOWERS. Located across from the Tech, it offers Internet access through the television with a wireless keyboard, or you can plug into T1 ports for your laptop. From $119. (800) 445-8667.