East Bay’s Space Odyssey 2009 @ Chabot Space & Science Center

Even though we were late, there was still plenty of food to go around. We got sushi, gelato, beer, cupcakes, miracle berries, and who remembers what else. These weren’t just little nibbles, but full sized samples. Plus, I got my free lunchbox and canteen.
Impressive.
Thanks to Sarah W., Andrew M., John B., Jeff C. for accompaniment and a huge thanks to the staff! Unilocal treats their members goooood.

What an amazing and starry, starry night! This truly was an out of this world and *spacetacular* event! Special thanks to Ligaya and the Unilocal team for putting this together. She and Connie looked awesome in their spacey costumes!
I really can’t say much that other Unilocalers haven’t already mentioned about this event. Even though the line to get in was long, it moved quickly. I really liked how big and spacious the Center was, with the different vendors in every room. There was never a long wait in any of the lines, (which is rare at most Elite events), and loved the diversity of the vendors (from Sushi, Mexican, Gelato, Beer, Wine, Tequila, Miracle Fruit, and Cakes and Cookies). I appreciated how friendly and personable every vendor was. Unfortunately, I was unable to sample the cupcakes from Sweetface. Boo! Anywho, my favs of the evening were the Gelateria Naia {Hazelnut and plumot (plum and apricot) flavors}; Drake Beer; and Bear Flag Wine. I also really loved drinking the Ginger Mimosas and the Ooba hibiscus drinks. Digalicious and refreshing! I was lucky enough to take a box of the Ooba home. :0
Amidst all the food and drink, I loved checking out the Chabot Center Space exhibits. Where else can you pretend to be weightless (check out my pic); step into a space capsule; check out the constellations? Atop the observatory was super dark, but it was so amazing to look through the ginormous telescopes to see Jupiter and the mass clusters of stars. The planetarium show was pretty cool, too. I loved the music (stayed around for the credits and learned that Moby was the Music mixer/​director). There were a few moments where I thought I’d get sick, and certain sequences I wasn’t vibing (eg the blue faces).
Oh, I can’t forget to mention the DJ, who was spinning some sweet tunes, and of course, the photo booth! Special thanks to hottie Hazel, Marsha, and Kent (who had the best costumes BTW) for making my first Unilocal photo booth experience a memorable one! LOL!
Speaking of Unilocalers, it was great seeing so many familiar faces, from the SBC, SF, and East Bay. I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to see and talk with more, as I was with my 2 non Unilocal friends (and BTW at the end of the night, they couldn’t stop thanking me for taking them to this Unilocal event)!
Kudos to Ligaya, for spearheading another fantastically fun and educational event! All night long, I kept thinking of Buzz Lightyear’s famous phrase: «To infinity … and beyond!»

I am a gigantic geek. What makes me an even bigger geek is that after watching Space Camp as a kid (and Flight of the Navigator, even though he really didn’t go into space), I wanted to be an astronaut. I put constellations on my ceiling with glow-​in-​the-​dark stars, studied my star chart at nights (thankfully Nevada was dark), and basically developed an unhealthy pallor from all the reading and night-​gazing.
So when my girl Ligaya (yes, she is my girl. Back off, bitches) said we were having an Elite event at Chabot Space & Science Center, I was DOWN.
Here’s what I’ve gleaned from Elite events: we are a bunch of hungry, boozy kids who have no sense of direction. We will stand in line for the tiniest morsel of food and the carefully measured alcohol, just because… it’s there and it’s free. There was not a single line all night. Hallelujah! The range of booze (margaritas, hibiscus juice, Dogfish Head beer) was incredible, as was the food (sushi, gelato, chips & stuff)…even though it was suggested that we nosh elsewhere first, there really was no need.
Great location, great vendors, cool show (even though my gigantic nerd self wanted to learn about stars rather than see a music/​light show, no matter) — this is definitely a place I want to return to– I saw that they had some show on Egyptian stuff. GEEK!
Something of this magnitude requires a LOT of planning, and again props to Ligaya (and the pretty space flower Connie) for putting this together. If you kinda knew how hard Ligaya worked based on her middle of the night emails, this just further reiterates it.
Basically, Ligaya is a nerd, and nerds are hot. Next time I’d come dressed as Pointdexter.

My very first Unilocal event was everything I asked for and more. I wish I could go back! Thank you Unilocal!Every hour just kept getting better as Chuck L. and our plus one Eric shuttled our way up the flight of stairs at the glorious Chabot Space & Science Center. But it all started with the party bus limo that had Nectar pale ales and Hibiscus drinks ready for us to pre-​game our way up to the center.
Tin foil (gold tin foil!) and pipe cleaners were provided upon entrance for any us newbs who didn’t show up in anything spacey, which was a very fun idea. We got crafty – I made a headband with antennas, Chuck and Eric stuck some behind their ears, and we were good to go.
Every food and drink vendor we stopped by at had something very delicious and amazing to offer. Some notables: whiskey gelato from Naia, shrimp ceviche from Otaez, sushi from Miraku. As for drinks: Bear Flag – I am gonna buy your vino goods ASAP. And the Dogfish special summer ale was WOW. I have never had such sour beer. I didn’t hate it, but boy was it interesting. As Eric noted, it was almost like drinking kimchi beer. I should have popped a miracle berry beforehand.
The DJs were AWESOME and played very fitting stuff for the event’s theme. And the ironic cherry on top was the old-​school Unilocal elite lunch pails with futuristic space odyssey theme.
And then with a poof, my space odyssey dream was over. Nooooo!

*shrieks in aweee* This event was AMAZING! I think one of the best elite events that i have been too this past year so far! I loved the originality of having it at this venue! Photobooth is, of course, a WONDERFUL idea for memory keepsakes! Got my share of costumes down! I even got pictures emailed to me from the space in the air exhibit with +1 and fellow Unilocaler! Love it! Exhibits were awesome. seeing jupiter through a huge telescopes and the stars surrounding it was romantic :). I didn’t get a chance to go see the planetarium show due to my +1 having to go bathroom all the time and made us miss it by 1 minute… :(
What I got to try:
1. Gelateria Naia– The St-George’s Whiskey flavored one was delicious. I had to get myself a full scoop. I thought it would of been more alcoholic but i was wrong!
2. Ooba– hibiscus flavor. grabbed myself a bag that included 2 bottles in there already on top of my iced one i grabbed for a chaser already! they were so generous for sponsoring and giving out so much to all the Unilocalers. I had to grab myself a cute pink bag to carry around to grab goodies during the event.
3. Miraki– plenty of sushi! First time ever! they were so friendly and even served us a little of everything! I loved the unagi especially.
4. A Sweet Affair– delicious rich brownies, especially the white frosting covered ones. with generous sizes.
5. Dogfish head– the server had a bit difficulty serving the beer due to the foam so we waited patiently for the 2 step process. many Unilocalers didn’t like the sour taste to it but i did!!! i ended having 2 servings :)
6. Bear Flag– red wine tasting, which was refreshing and sweet. they can be found in many berkeley stores!
7. Partida– got to try all 3 of their flavors. and i liked all 3! It was a bit stronger than usual tequila according to my taste buds though. Their margaritas made up for the strong taste! They were delicious and perfectly made!
8. Otaez and edible explorations had wonderful samplings. enough for everyone, which were many Unilocalers! ceviche was pretty good especially the seafood and salsa.
9. Humboldt brewery– i got to try one of their beers, the original. It was definitely more bitter compared to the other drinks I had throughout the night… I kind of cheated towards the end with the miracle berry which helped the bitterness go away! Good use of the sponsors or what?!? That was my first time trying out the miracle berry. I previously tried the miracle berry pill at the elite event in oakland which was a totally different experience
Grabbed myself a Unilocal addition to my collection! Unilocal bandana!
Unilocal staff. you guys were cute as EVER yesterday night in those designed space outfits. i want them as my halloween outfits now :)
Unilocal you dont know how much i appreciate you soooo!

Cupcakes, gelato, and more!
Happy to see SBC representin’!
Amazing event, thanks East Bay!
Bouncing around the space center!
Out of this world!
Took home a case of hibiscus OOBA! :D
Thanks Ligaya, Unilocal,Chabot, and all the lovely vendors for making it an «out of this world» event! I thought this event was well organized! So many food vendors and things to do! Well spread out! It was a fun evening! Thank you!!!
Dessert first: I felt like I was in heaven! Gelato and cupcakes!!! I inhaled the cupcakes! ahahaha I think I had at least 3 – 4 mini cupcakes. But 3 – 4 of those equals like 1 regular size cupcake… so I had like one cupcake! :) I probably shouldn’t have eaten that much because I had a full dinner before hand! I wish I had more room to eat and drink!
Photobooth: We were able to get about 6 SBC people in the photo booth! Woot woot!!!
Hellos to: Kimberly S. and her bf, Rhoda G., Aaron, Badri N., Vy N., Kathy D., Hazel, Booby L., Mikey U., Julia H., SB Unilocalers, and all the guests! Hope you had a blast!!!
YEE #19 for 2009 :)

The beer from Drake’s Brewing Company was hella good.
The ceviche from Otaez was hella hella good.
The endless amount of sushi from Miraku was hella hella hella good.
The cookie, cupcakes, and fudge brownies from Sweetface Bakery were hella hella hella HELLA good.
I brought a lightsaber with me. I watched a freaky planetarium show. I did the photo booth. I left with an awesome lunchbox.
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I hella hella love Unilocal.You guys are so damn awesome to meet and hang out with. These events just keep getting better and better. I am hella hella lucky to be apart of this crazy group of internet foodies…
And i’m totally ordering from Sweetface one of these days.

Thanks to Unilocal for a fab event so close to my homey!
First of all, imma big geek. So the chance to see Jupiter (and three of ‘er moons! woo!) and a nebula with star that’s already gone bang (I could see through it. OMG sooooo cool!), plus the chance to run around Chabot and have at the exhibits. Loved the little computer «make your own solar system” – tried putting Jupiter and Earth into the same trajectory on top of the Sun and we had Pluto winging off-​screen (yes, Pluto’ll be a planet to me for always). The only downside was that this exhibit was on a fairly nondescript computer monitor – they need to pump this exhibit up!
Second of all, great snackins and libations. As instructed, we ate before heading over, but there were many wonderful snacks – sushi, mexican food, gelato (whiskey flavored!), beers (hemp, peach, and more!), ginger mimosas, hibiscus ooba beverages (non woozy and delish), amazing tiny cupcakes, and the coolest! miracle berries! (been meaning to try these for ages). I left all my flyers at home, but I’ll follow up with reviews to the standouts when I get a sec.
Third, I gotta say, I’ve only made it to a couple Unilocalie events, but they’ve all been a really cool way to get to check out different places, to sample different eatins, and to get some awesome swag. Thanks to the Unilocal crew for my new favorite lunch box and the dogs love their new bandanas! (I’ll upload photos in a sec…). And thanks to Chabot for hosting sucha cool event – the volunteers and staff were all awesome (so much cool stuff to learn!) and I hope everyone donated big… :-)

By FAR… this was the BEST Unilocal event i’ve been to. I was impressed with the good turn out for a sunday nite too. How awesome was it to have the WHOLE chabot space center museum to meander through… meanwhile enjoying great music, appetizers and drinks! I particularly enjoyed the sushi, shrimp cerviche, and gelato! We got to watch a cool psychodelic planeterium showing, and got to explore all the neat space exhibits. I felt like i was a little kid in a candy store. 3 different floors to explore… and to top it all off, i got to check out the 3 ginormous telescopes… and learned a bit about astronomy. got to see jupiter close up! such a beautiful night… absolutely had a blast!!!
to make it even better… i got a photobooth keepsake, and a Unilocal LUNCHBOX!!! soooooo stuper stoked. Heck, there was even a limo bus to shuttle Unilocalers back and forth from the rockridge bart! thanks Ligaya for a totally OUT OF THIS WORLD EVENT!!! love love loved it.

It was a great event., and they were prepared for a warm, crowded evening (even down to the Unilocal fans to keep yourself cool).
The gelatto/​sorbetto was awesome (I had a combo of pistachio and raspberry). I went for the non-​alcohol portion of the event, which was great because they had some interesting drinks (the hibiscus flower drink from Ooba was really good). There was plenty of alcohol to be had, though.
Overall, It was a great night to indulge your sweet tooth. The mini cupcakes were a great way to have that sugar rush capped off for the evening.
Ligaya and the other workers/​volunteers from Unilocal really outdid themselves. I feel like they get better and better with each YEE.
Here is a link to photos of the event…

This was only my second Unilocal event and it definitely won’t be my last!
Once again, Ligaya and friends put together an amazingly fun event and I felt so lucky to be a part of it. It was great to see elite and non-​elite, East Bay and non-​East Bay folks all having a fabulous time.
We arrived right around 7:30 and there was a long line of Unilocalers out the door. The line moved quickly and we soon found ourselves inside, signing up for the 8:15 planetarium show and grabbing some snacks and beverages from the many options available.
Some of my favorite tastes were the ginger mimosa, shrimp ceviche, coconut chutney (from the sage table) and gelato. I loved that everything was nicely spread out throughout the space and there were hardly any waits.
Chabot is wonderful. I had so much fun exploring all the different floors and exhibits. We didn’t have a chance to check out the telescopes but my honey and I decided that we will definitely be coming back again soon.
The planetarium show was not what I expected. I expected stars and planets and learning. Although very cool, the show was a bit to long and abstract for my short attention span.
Thank you, Unilocal,for another fun event… and thanks for the lunch box!

5 stars all the way! This was one of the best events I have attended! So many exhibits to look through and gidgets to play with! Thanks to Connie C. and Ligaya for putting on a fantastic event.
The food was amazing (who doesn’t love sushi and shrimp ceviche?!), the drinks were endlessly flowing (Drake’s beer was the best) and people were smiling wherever we went — 3 floors of it!
PS — the photo booth was a great addition!

East Bay Unilocal events keep getting better and better. It’s no surprise that people come from as far as Vallejo and beyond to attend them. I was surprised that there wasn’t a huge line to get in and it never seemed overwhelmingly crowded for anything. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces as well as new ones. Everyone was so friendly and chill it’s hard to NOT enjoy yourself at these events.
The only thing wrong with this event was that the time went by so quick, I didn’t have a chance to take everything in. I think I was too busy socializing and eating to really see the exhibits. I didn’t even know there was a photobooth which is something I almost always partake in. Oh well, I know my pal Majid took some really arty shots so that’s okay.
Overall, the food was tasty, especially the sweets. My favourite thing of the evening was the gelato though. You can never go wrong with it. I do have a sugar tooth though. The drink supply was plentiful as well, and catered to drinkers of all types of alcohol — hard liquor, beer, wine as well as non-​alcoholic and even coffee.
The telescopes were fabulous as usual. It was fun looking up at the sky at night. The planetarium show was clever, but it made my head spin. Oh well, I can’t complain too much — they did play Radiohead and Spiritualized and a couple of other good tunes to make up for the lack of space and science.
There were so many clever costumes to boot. I was quite envious of the Unilocal crowd’s creativity even with only a few weeks, chances are they’ll come up with something cool.
There were three floors of goodness. My plus one enjoyed her time here as well. I popped her Unilocal cherry.
My lunch box has already gotten lots of nods of approval. The Unilocal lunchbox brings all the boys to the yard apparently. Thanks Unilocal for yet another fantastic evening.

Had lots of fun for my first Unilocal event =) My +1 flirted heavily and got to take home the huge tequila bottle.
My favorites were the organic tequila shots, margaritas, sushi (by real Japanese, not Chinese posing as Japanese… finally!), cupcakes with the yummy frosting… oh and of course the super cool ass lunch box!!! I’m sooo using it

This was the best EB event EVER! Thanks Ligaya and her crew!
First and foremost were the telescopes, Leah and Rachel. Leah was showing Jupiter and 3 of its moons… the ones discovered by Galileo. Rachel had her sights on the Ring Nebula… so cool to see a white dwarf!
Next was the psychedelic show in the planetarium, which could have been more science for me, but it did give you the thrill of a roller coaster… pretty neat for graphics!
Plenty of food on 3 levels made the event very uncrowned… I sampled gelato… Ferrero Rocher, YUM! I also had a Hemp beer by Humboldt… I am not a beer aficionado… so I don’t know the terminology, but it was yummy! I also had a brownie… not bad at all!!!
Many Unilocal goodies were available… I got a scarf, Unilocal stick… and a few buttons.
DH and I had a blast… being our geeky selves!!!

The scenic drive up into the hills should have been enough of a clue to how out-​of-​this-​world (*barump-​bump*) spectacular this event was going to be. The awesome vista and venue seemed like an exciting far off place for me; I spend day-​to-​day in suburban and commercial confines and forget that an escape from urban streets and city lights can be just a few miles up and away.
I walked around a bit, geeking out on the displays and exhibits that cataloged the pioneering efforts of space exploration. Partook in the tartest beer ever (compliments of DogFish Head Craft Brews!). Saw the prettiest Space /​Rose/​Flower (lobster?) and Galactic Tentacle/​Squid/​Octopi ever. Sat in a [way WAY too cramped for my huskyboy-​ness] space capsule…
It wasn’t long before I ran into familiar faces! From that point on, it was food, drink, and desserts! Photobooths and schwag! Walks under night sky and telescopes! So-​n-​so, meet such-​n-​such! Heyhowyoudoin’s and OMGhowareyou’s… All the things that make Unilocal great…
I need to find my way out to the East Bay and SF events more often! Too TOO much fun! Thank you, Rachel R, for the sweet +1! BIG-​UPS to Ligaya, Connie, and Unilocalcrew for putting on yet another… (wait for it! wait for it!)… STELLAR event!
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
… get’it? …Get’it?
…Space? …Stellar?
…I’m a dork. =P

«Space… the final frontier!»
Wait no…
«Danger Will Robinson, Danger!»
No that’s not it… huh.
…
Okay I got it.
«That’s one step for Unilocal… one giant leap for Unilocal kind.»
…
Hellz yea.
Dropping in I moseyed up to the Gelateria Naia cart. GN is always the bomb and though I’d never had their whiskey flavor before, it was awesome. I was also really digging the sweetart beer down the way. I even went back for seconds it was that good.
Moving along the food trail I had the salsa/​potato plate next to Naia and it was quite spicy (even without the green salsa) and very hard to eat. As was the chutney which though it tasted unlike anything I’d had before I wasn’t really feeling.
The sushi was darn good for buffet style, though I think it would have been easier if it were self serve as the woman in front of the table made it hard to choose what you wanted.
Finally the table that had the shortbread cookies gets extra points, just because I like shortbread. Yea. That’s right.
Later we got calls about the light show which turned out to be crazy fun. Very heavy metal meets dancing Ally McBeal baby with a throw over to a 70’s acid trip.
Then when it was time to leave Think Escape dropped us off at BART in their limo-​esque bus. The fact that they had beer on board and awesome lighting overlooked the fact that there wasn’t a sign when we got off BART to get to the party and everyone was a bit confused.
All in all one fabulous, ultra spacey good time. Perfect for us cute cadets.
Thanks Ligaya for the out of this world party and space case lunchbox!
And more thanks to all the other Unilocal employees who came and helped out. Ya’llz rock!

For the record, I was Padmé from episode II. not Leia. I’m not sure it gets much better than being able to run around a space center dressed up in a Star Wars costume, while being fed cupcakes, shrimp ceviche, cookies, sushi, whiskey gelato, wine, beer & mimosas. I had such a blast.
We goofed off in the photo booth and grabbed a few drinks. We then grabbed a seat for the first Planetarium show, which was spectacular. Can I have one of those installed in my bedroom?
I don’t know why it took me so long to spot the Heffe tap, yum! We were asked to pose with it in our costumes and I was more than happy to. We headed up to the observation deck, peeked at Jupiter & her moons and a also beheld a beautiful star cluster.
Then we found the television. We seriously had way too much fun romping around in front of the green screen, making up our own episode with the moon man.
To put the final cherry on top, we were handed our out of this world Elite 2009 Unilocal lunch boxes. I set it on the counter when I got home last night and this morning my teenager confirmed its awesomeness.
You have outdone yourself again Ligaya. Thank you so much to Unilocal,Chabot and all the vendors.
May the force be with you.

I just came back from the event tonight and it was a blast! There was about a 500 person turnout. I arrived at 7:30PM and the Elite’s were lining up to get in. The line went by really fast. I ‘m not Elite but my guests and I were allowed in at the same time as the Elites because it wasn’t very crowded yet.
As soon as we walked in, there was a crafting table with pixy sticks candy, pipe cleaners and aluminum so you can make something space themed if you didn’t come in a costume.
The first floor consisted of the planetarium, DJ, Edible Explorations, Gelateria Naia, and a beer table. There was a table dining area too, which was nice. The gelato was really good and there was enough for the entire night! I had the Fererra Rochero, Whiskey, and Chocolate Hazelnut. It was super scrumptious. The next table was Edible Exploration, which were Tortilla Chips with Potatoes in Mole and Chile Sauce. That was very tasty!
The planetarium show was pretty cool and had great music –it was an interesting and psychedelic type of show… It didn’t really focus much on anything educational –I wish that was a bit better presented.
The second floor consisted of the Photobooth, which had a lot of fun props! There was also Local 123, which had really good smelling coffee and extremely tasty butter cookies! Miraki Sushi provided us with a plate of sushi that tasted good too!
On the third floor, Otaez Restaurant served guacamole, beans and chips along with Shrimp and Fish Ceviche. Honest Abe was giving out free drinks. There was also a huge table of sweets. A DJ was playing live music here as well and I also tried some sort of magic fruit that made lemons taste sweet. LOL.
Outside, we were able to check out the telescropes and the planets. I saw a cluster of stars and I also saw Jupiter. It was amazing and the view out there was spectacular in general. The sky was so clear and the Bay Area was just heavenly right at that moment in time.
I was also able to meet Ligaya, who is very personable and very oh-​so gorgeous!
Thanks for putting such a great event for the East Bay! I had such a blast and I didn’t even drink! :D

While I was looking forward to seeing more folks in costumes, seeing the Unilocalloyees decked out was pretty awesome — Ligaya with her tentacles, Connie with her giant petals, Valerie in her outfit. Ryan was in his flight suit, and I was in a black dress with gold belt/​shoes — my interpretation of the night sky. For those who forgot to don a costume, there was a table of foil and pipe cleaners at their disposal.
There was plenty to see in the museum, and the beautiful night sky did not fail. I was super excited to be able to check out the telescopes at Chabot. Jupiter and three of its four moons, a Ring Nebula ~4,000 light years away, and M-​something [Was it 13?] star cluster ~21,000 light years away were visible through the giant telescopes.
There was plenty to eat [YUMMY bites, dessert included!] and drink [Beer, tequila, mojitos, and non-​alcoholic too!] throughout the evening. Did anyone else grab the sour peach-​flavored beer from Dogfish and try that with a miracle berry? Mmm! The ceviche from Otaez also tasted excellent with the miracle berry.
The music was OUTSTANDING — both downstairs and upstairs! Ryan and I made sure to dance a bit before the night was over. When we had gotten our fill and good-​byes were announced over the PA, we grabbed our lunch boxes and quite a few OOBA drinks for the road!
Awesome event!