Discovery Cube LA Media Preview: Discovery Cube OC Brings Their Magic to Los Angeles!

Sasaki Time was invited to a special Media Preview Day at the brand new Discovery Cube Los Angeles! Discovery Cube Orange County is already one of my favorite places to visit and I could not wait to check out the new facility!

Love the large welcome sign!

Time to take my first step into Discovery Cube LA! Let's take a look around!

I saw this display and had to go check it out myself! You actually get to pedal the bike and see the skeleton pedal his bike as well! What a cool way to show how skeletal structure works!

Right next to this is a wind tunnel to show how powerful the Santa Ana winds can get.

One of my favorite things from Discovery Cube OC has found it's way up here! You take a shopping cart that has a tablet on it. There are various games to play to teach kids on how to be healthy and environmentally friendly. It's also a great way for adults to learn as well! You don't need kids to have a good time here! You just have to have a love for learning!

A really cool exhibit unique to Discovery Cube LA is this helicopter tour. With a large screen you will be able to take one of two tours. One will take you through the sewer system and how water is treated, The other takes you through the California aqueduct system from beginning to end. A new favorite that I am sure will be very popular!

This is a photo from one of the helicopter tours. This is from the California aqueduct tour.

Right across from the helicopter tour is the Aquavator. This reminded me of one of my favorite features of original Living Seas attraction at EPCOT where you boarded the hydrolator on your way to SeaBase Alpha. But instead of traveling deep into the ocean, you travel down through the layers of earth to see and learn about the water table.

The coolest exhibit starts here at this truck. You check out a tablet to try to become a home inspector. You will learn how to make better sustainability, resource and efficiency choices for your home.

Take a look at this home. I want to live here!

There are different games to play to earn badges. Each game will take you all over the house. This was really fun and engaging. My friend Drew and I learned a lot and both commented many times on how cool it would be if Innoventions at Disneyland had something like this.

Drew became an Inspector! Great job Drew!

There is a Bean Sprouts location inside. They have several locations in California. They are all at other children-type museums. The idea is to bring fun and healthy food to kids. They even cater to special dietary choices and challenges.

To learn more about them check out their website  at:
http://beansproutsllc.publishpath.com/home

Bean Sprouts had a sample one of their more popular items, the  Do-Re-For-Me sandwich made with sunflower butter and organic jam. I never would have guessed that it wasn't peanut butter. It was was so good and I hope to try more of their food soon!

The Planetary Research Station is another favorite from the OC. Inside you will find a suspended Earth to look at weather patterns as well as historic storms as they happened. You will see earthquakes and their impact on our planet. You will also see flight patterns at night.

There is a cool Dinosaur area where kids can learn more about my favorite creatures that ever existed.

Never upset a dinosaur. If you do make sure you can outrun him!

On a serious note, it's so cool to see various dinosaur models like the one behind me. I just wanted to have some fun with this photo.

Upstairs there are several smaller displays and hands on activities but the Science of Hockey is one I am most looking forward to! There is one at the OC but this one looks like it will be much larger! The Discovery Cube OC has a partnership with the Ducks and of course Discovery Cube LA would have one with the Kings!

That is a quick look at the brand new Discovery Cube Los Angeles!

The Discovery Cube LA opens on November 13th, 2014!

To learn more, check out their website at:
http://www.discoverycube.org/la/

Del Real Foods Blogger and Cinco De Mayo Event!

The Cardenas Family, owners of Del Real Foods, hosted an amazing event at their beautiful home the other day for local area bloggers that have supported them in the past year. Sasaki Time was invited and I took my friend Kristen with me to enjoy an afternoon of fantastic food and a wonderful panel discussion on L.A.'s food culture.

When we arrived we went straight to the fresh aguas frescas of pineapple, horchata and cantaloupe.

Then the endless amount of food began! And the best part was that all of the dishes were made with Del Real Foods. Yes, the very same food you can buy in the freezer section of your grocery store!

The cheese tamale fritters.

Fish ceviche!

A perfect setting for amazing food and friends both old and new!

The party wouldn't be a party without a mariachi band!

Salvadoran panini, a pupusa filled with carnitas, sliced onion and cheese.

The fried pork carnitas! So flavorful and one of my favorites of the day!

After doing some serious eating it was time to head to a panel moderated by Latino Foodies co-editor Stephen Chavez. On the panel, from left to right, is Chef Gina Galvan from Chomp Chomp Nation, Tony Spatafora from Dish It Out! with Tony Spatafora and Chef Aaron Perez.

It was a great discussion of where food culture is in Los Angeles and where it is going.

Then it was back to eating! More ceviche!

Toasted mini torta filled with shredded chicken, jack cheese, avacado, refried beans, salsa roja, cilantro, onion, lettuce and tomato!

Mini sopas filled with frijoles refritos, beef barbacoa, shredded lettuce, crema, green molcajete salsa and queso fresco.

Memphis style glazed pork carnitas sliders with honey mustard slaw!

Oh and then there were the desserts! Amazing fruit tarts!

A pineapple sponge cake with coconut topping.

A chocolate espresso cake.

Chocolate covered strawberries!

Red velvet cake!

Mini cheesecake bites!

Mini carrot cake slices!

White chocolate covered strawberries!

So, an amazing afternoon and sadly it was time to head home but not without parting gifts!

These were the parting gifts! Even more amazing food to enjoy at home!

Thank you for welcoming us into your home Cardenas Family! We felt just like family!

To find out more check out Del Real Foods at:
http://www.delrealfoods.com/

Discovery Science Center Spooky Science and The Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not Exhibit!

Happy Halloween everyone! The great team at the Discovery Science Center has brought another great exhibit and I am here to share it with you!

The first one is The Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not! As a kid I grew up reading the books, watching the TV show with Jack Palance, and then the later show with Dean Caine.

The second is Spooky Science bringing spiders, pumpkins, the moon and much more to learn about and to make and take home with you!

Can you believe this full sized car is made entirely out of matchsticks?

Never knew that there were so many varieties of pumpkins! I loved this one since of course it reminds me of Disney!

A look at the scavenger hunt sheet for kids to find all the clues for a prize at the end!

One of the creepy spiders in the spider area. There are several others and yes spiders creep me out. I surprised myself by not only looking for the spiders but taking their photos as well. Gives me the creeps!

Heading into The Science of Ripley's Believe It Or Not exhibit!

I loved this giant chair! It reminded me of the one that Pixar made for the release of Toy Story 3!

Have you ever seen an albino porcupine? One of the animal oddities that you will discover!

Check out the four legged chicken! Mmmm more drumsticks!

Don't you hate it when you go to a media event and a giant snake tries to devour you whole?

Standing next to Robert Wadlow, the World's Tallest man reminds me how short I am! This was one cool animatronic figure by the way! He actually stands up from his chair and looks around and then sits back down again.

They have an old fashioned radio playing select shows from the Ripley's Believe It or Not radio show. As many of you know I am a huge fan of old time radio so it was really cool to see this included.

Fossils show us some of the amazing animals that lived on our planet!

Imagine if you had this monstrous mouth of teeth to brush a couple of times a day!

There are lots of great interactive displays to grab your attention!

People are inspired to create amazing art like this awesome recreation of Bumblebee from Transformers!

Or this fantastic piece of art featuring Martin Luther King, Jr. made out of postage stamps!

Or this amazing piece featuring Ben Franklin made from discarded keyboard keys!

Take a look at some of the ways people have used body modification.

Check out some actual shrunken heads!

So much to see and do! This will keep your kids entertained while learning!

An awesome 3D maze of some of the great cartoon art by Robert L. Ripley as well as some new pieces created in his style! Here is the one of the Discovery Science Center!

This was my parting gift for attending the blogger event!

Another great event put on by the great people at the Discovery Science Center! I love attending these events as I am reminded of educational Tomorrowland at Disneyland. You had Adventures Through Inner Space, the original submarines, circle-vision and even the Carousel of Progress. All attractions dedicated to learning while still having fun. The Discovery Science Center continues this idea and brings so much more!

The Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not exhibit runs until January 5, 2014!
Spooky Science runs through October 31st!

To learn more check out their web site:
http://www.discoverycube.org/

Discovery Science Center

• 2500 N. Main Street
  Santa Ana, CA 92705
• tel: 714.542.2823