Yelpy Chinese New Year Elite Event @ Sino

YEE #4 and counting for 2011
Dim sum + blood orange cosmos + old time Unilocalers + newbies = amazing Unilocal event!
Thanks Abby and Sino for such a great event! We had the whole back room to ourselves! Endless dim sum! Lots of Unilocal schwag (of course, it was chinese new year themed) and an empty dance floor! hahaha Thanks Connie and Betty for starting the warm up! :P
Hellos to: Badri N., Vicky T., Chuck N., Vy N., Jacob H., Jennifer L., Kelly T., Rachel R., Pauline L., Connie C., and all the Unilocalers!

Thanks, Unilocal team for putting this event together! It was great to meet the new CM, Abby. Enjoyed the dim sum, Cosmo cocktail, the music with the music videos, and the DJ! I didn’t realize Sino extended out that far to the back until we got there. The place was perfect for this CNY party.
As for the photographers, I always wonder how «cool» you need to be to get a photo taken. Isn’t being a Unilocal Elite cool enough?! It’s so irritating that they take photos of the same people instead of taking photos of everyone that came. So much for photographing the memories.

Thanks Abby and everyone else that put this event together! Certainly a great touch with the Unilocal fortune cookies. can’t say I’ve really been around long enough to to have ever seen those being made! ^_^
Great company, great friends, and great venue. Events like these open up different places I would’ve never thought to come to. Often have I just walked past Sino, and never realized how nice this place is.
Abby is doing a great job. For SURE!
I am very much looking forward to coming out to more events this year (if I’m not ridiculously busy anyway! lol)

This was my second YEE ever and also for 2011. First one was the welcoming of Abby S. at Espeteus San Mateo. I was a +1 thanks to my buddy Donna Y. for the invite. Since Donna knew a bunch of wonderful Unilocalers, I got crawl out of my shy-​shell (copyrighted as of 2011 by Jeff T.) and say hello. The Cosmo provided by Solerno Blood Orange was helpful in loosening up and the free Tsingtao. Some of my friends dislike Tsingtao, but I think it’s delicious when it’s free. Compared to the first CM event of Abby S at San Mateo, I felt this event was closer to the community, within the South Bay. I was able to see who she was because she took the time to mingle with everyone and introduce herself. The goodies were also great, such as the funny fortune cookie stating «Someone wants to F-​U-​C you (on Unilocal)»
Pros– mini pork buns, free beer, DJ with the music video projector, wonderful photographers. Most of the guests wore red and followed the theme, so I thought a lot of people looked nice and classy. Good job fellow Unilocalers!
Cons– One free cosmo drink (maybe 3 – 4 next time? LOL). We ordered another one, and too bad it’s not on the happy hour list so it costs $ 10 a drink (good thing I felt ballin that day)
Special shout out Betty N. and Connie for starting the dance floor, from what I remember on Abby S. deal, whoever comes out to the dance floor first, she owes them a drink.

There were a lot of firsts that night. First Unilocal Elite Event (YAY!). First time meeting Abby S. and other South Bay Elites (YAY YAY!!). First time at Sino (YAYAYAYAY!!!)
It was a wonderful venue, food, DJ, drinks and, of course, crowd.
Venue: clean and upscale, friendly waiters.
Food: We had dim sum type snacks. The dim sum provided was all excellent in flavor, taste, and consistency, but what really stood out were the pork buns. Sino does a really delicious job of making the bun dough taste like pan de sal, fresh from the oven (I was in culinary heaven)
DJ: Music was wonderful and upbeat — mainly top 40s, but he also snuck in some 80s/​90s music in the beginning, which was totally excellent.
Drinks: Against my better judgment, I took advantage of the free drinks — the cosmos were stiff and delightful.
Crowd: What can I say? People who love Unilocal are hard not to love :).
Thanks to Abby for putting this awesome event together!

Our new SBC CM Abby S. put together a fantastic event! Everything was great! I finally met her for the first time in person at this event. She was nice enough to approach me, my plus one Emma P., and other people at the bar when the event opened at 5:30. Sino’s is very nice and classy. Us lucky Unilocalers got our own private room in the back-:)
There were lots of cute knick knacks and Unilocal stuff on every table from fortune cookies, mini take out boxes, sparklers, white rabbit candy (nice touch for the year of the bunny-​:), small Asian coin bags and other small and cute Asian trinkets as well as Unilocal chapstick and fans. There was a DJ there playing good music from the 80’s, 90’s, and the early part of 2000 I think.
What was even cooler was the big screen by the DJ booth showing the actual videos-​:) Although the event was smaller than other YEE’s, there was still plenty of room to move around and sit in. This is a nice and classy lounge. Each person was given one ticket for a blood orange drink. I had one and it was sweet with a slightly tart taste and was very good. The waiters were all very nice and attentive. There was also lots of Tsingao beer in a bucket of ice and I had a couple of those.
The food was plentiful. Emma and I got the pork dumplings, the steamed shrimp ones, and I got the pork bun. Everything was good. We got the eggrolls when it was brought out the second time. I liked those the best. They were tasty spring rolls that was cripsy and not too greasy.
Unfortunately my friend Emma isn’t a big party person so wanted to leave early. She still liked the food and was curious about Unilocal and was a last mintue replacement for my other friend. I respected her wishes and left after an hour. I heard that people got crazy on the dance floor later. It’s too bad that I missed that! Next time I’ll bring someone who’ll want to stay the whole time!

Great event with a private room in the back of restaurant! The décor was festive and very Chinese New Year’s-y. There was more than enough dim sum to go around for everyone, plus Tsing Tao beer and one complimentary blood-​orange cosmo per person which was delicious!
Awesome job, Abby! Can’t wait for more events in 2011!

Count me in also as one of the first to attend a YEE. Free food, free alcohol, DJ spinning tunes, and most importantly, got to meet and connect with our awesome CM Abby and a few other Unilocalers.
Thanks to all who contributed to the night of fun and special thanks esp. for Abby for spearheading and Sino for hosting! Maybe see you again next year… same time… same channel?
Looking forward to catching up and meeting more of you at future events.

Just want to give a BIG thanks to Abby for putting together this Unilocal Elite Event. Wonderful to meet the new CM and look forward to seeing how things go from here!
Sino was definitely the perfect spot and the food was delicious as ever! I brought the BF out to his first (of many more to come) Unilocal event and although it wasn’t exactly as I had described in previous rants, he still throughly enjoyed himself and the copious amount of beer.
Can’t wait for the next event!
P. S. Where are my Old SBC’ers???

**ABBY-​LICIOUS HAPPY LUNAR YEAR FUN @ SINO**
Finally, met the one and only ABBY who revealed her POP DA COLLA moves on the dance floor.
What a SUPER FUN event!
Loved the festive reds amongst the Unilocalers. I represented with my bunny fur hat (Year of the Rabbit, hello) and sipped (ok, I downed) the tasty blood orange cosmos.
LOVED the DJ.
Sino has always been my GO-​TO bar for Asian fusion bites, good looking peeps, and Vegas-​y crimson lounging. Never a dull moment here.
Plenty of room in the back to dance. .. and yes, there was a dance circle. OMG right. Busted a few moves and others joined. Too MUCH fun!
THANK YOU, ABBY for a wonderful event filled with delicious dim sum delights and tantalizing cocktails!
XOXO

Awesome music from the dj. can you return on the weekends?
Sino was super generous with their food, and the ha gaw was definitely the star for me — plump, well seasoned, juicy, sweet. The blood orange cocktails were also amazing — nice job from the mixologist. Their servers were also busy running around but always had smiles on their faces and seemed genuinely interested in whether we were having a good time.
Loved the private room in the back, perfect for this event or any other private party.
Thanks again to Abby and the Unilocal Elite crew :)

Sino is a nice place in the middle of Santana Row, have to say its a little different from the other places like Left Bank and Straits. A little more hip. And mostly Red… (yes yes my mind is a little blank at the moment, its a long fun weekend for me) But with a little Unilocal flourish like a good DJ at the back, lots of great dimsum appetizers and a really good cocktail, it might be the best place to go to in Santana Row during the long weekends if you’re not big on driving all the way to SF.
I’ll update this review as the day goes on. For the meantime, here’s some pics I took on the event.
PICS:

Loved the blood orange cosmos. Way more dim sum then we could eat. Hmmm was that why they had to-​go boxes out. Cool DJ. The staff at Sino did a wonderful job especially with the drinks. They didn’t seem fazed having to roam around the room to find us. Even got to see Connie C.
Thanks Abby for another 5 star YEE.

Dear Abby,
I went to an Elite event last night. The music was really loud and today I can’t seem to get this one Bell Biv Devoe song out of my head.
Please help!
— Never Trusting a Big Butt and a Smile in the East Bay
P. S. I think Unilocal HQ forgot to mention to you that the new CM is supposed to buy the first round for everyone after his/​her first event. I demand a refund!
P. P. S. I wasn’t too hungry, I wasn’t too thirsty, I wasn’t feeling like a sardine. Just right. Great first event!
P.P.P.S. My fortune cookie read, «Be on the lookout for a gold elite badge in 2012 (on Unilocal)» Since I already have one, can I trade that for something else?

As I travel alot for work, it was great to be in town to attend my first YEE this year! Great job to the new South Bay Community Manager Abby for making this event truly successful! Everything was organized from the food to the drinks! The waiters were very helpful in getting us our drinks and remembering our names.
The food consisted of (1) Ha Gao (Shrimp dumplings), (2) Egg Rolls, (3) Siu Mai (Pork dumplings), (4) Cha Siu Bao (Pork buns). Sino did not hold back as there was more than enough food for everyone. Everyone at the event was very friendly and there was no pushing to get the food. The drinks consisted of unlimited Tsingtao beer and 1 special cocktail.
The DJ played well and kept the beats going.
Abby — great job again, and look forward to more YEE this year!!!

A big thank you goes to Abby and our dedicated Unilocal team for making my first Unilocal Elite event experience a great one! Sino is one of those swanky places at Santana Row that I usually avoid because of my starving student status, but they definitely know how to put on a good show. I will be back when I’m making money again! We had a private room in the back that was blocked off from the rest of the diners. There was a large table set up in the middle with har gow, vegetarian eggrolls, shiu mai, and barbecue pork buns. They were all very large serving sizes and quite tasty. I can imagine that the normal price for these delicacies would be comparably high, but it was free to us Unilocalers! The complimentary blood orange cocktail was very delicious as well.
My friend’s +1 commented that the DJ was great, and she was considering renting out the same space for her upcoming birthday. All in all, a very successful event!

Good food, music, and service!
I loved how all the servers made use of the name tags, and greeted me by name. That was a nice touch of personalized service.
I heard the food at Sino was good, and I have to agree. I enjoyed the eggrolls, shu mai, shrimp har gow, and bbq pork rolls that came fresh out the kitchen. The blood orange cosmo was delicious too, and you couldn’t go wrong with a never empty bucket full of Tsing Tao beer.
It was nice to finally meet Abby, who did a great job in organizing and hosting event along with Sino!
p. s. I LOVED the fortune cookie and the message :) I should have taken more than one, and see what the rest of the messages were!

What a way to kick off my first Unilocal Elite event. Great food, drinks, and music. Did I forget to mention that it was all free? All in all, a great bunch of people, giving off good vibes, and hungry stomachs. I thought it was pretty shocking to see the food literally appear and then disappear in a matter of seconds. I guess that’s what happens when an event is around dinnertime.
I’ve only been to Sino once before, but now that I’ve tasted a couple dishes, I’d consider going back. Lots of space in the private room.

Unilocalers sure know how to fist pump, cabbage patch and do the running man… in addition to dropping it like itz hawt!!! If you missed out it was because you left early!!!
Tons of eggrolls, and dim sum goodies… take that food vultures!
Loved the pork buns in particular!
DJ was off the hook
The usual suspects were a lurking
Met some new peeps. saw folks I had not seen in a minute
Kriss Kross was in the house
Danced my arse off and it was great seeing folks!
The to-​go boxes which were a nice touch.
Huge ups to Abby for a well done first event in San Jose :-)
Shout out to the Sino staff who were super attentive
Monday blues… no more!

Happy Chinese New Year!
We had a great time on a Monday. Great start of what’s up and coming! The treats of food satisfied some of the hungry Unilocalers, while the drinks were tasty. Endless beers? What? Ok, does that mean I should go try a Tsingtao beer? I got a beer… not that bad… could it be a start for a new beginning?
The DJ was awesome too. If I wasn’t shy, I would have been dancing and jumping around. I bought a friend with me last night that has never come to an Unilocal Elite event at all… what do you know? She thought it was kinda cool. Maybe she will join me for another event? Maybe she will start Unilocaling, just like us.:)
Thanks Abby! :)