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Off Campus Highlight: Lotus Asian Market

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

Dining halls just not good enough tonight? Looking for something to do to get away from campus? No idea on where to get a specific thing? Completely lost the minute you get off at the Metro Station or just looking for a recommendation? Have no fear OCH is here!

If there’s something that Santa Cruz is in severe lack of, it’s Asian markets. Normally student’s would have to either drive the Highway 17 to reach one or make due with the overpriced goods that are available in Santa Cruz. Imagine my relief when I found out that there was in fact an Asian market in Santa Cruz.

The Lotus Asian Market is owned by the owner of Thai Basil Restaurant at Capitola Village. It’s a small store with a small but reasonably priced selection from curry, rice, snacks, and ramen

to pottery and clothing

It doesn’t have the wide selection that most Asian markets usually do but for us UCSC students, I feel that it’ll do.

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong here (well unless you really don’t like Asian food). There’s quite a bit of stock here that I don’t usually see in Santa Cruz and what I do normally see isn’t horribly overpriced here.

Price Range: It depends on what you get, but honestly I don’t think this place would break the bank unless you were going to buy their entire stock on something. They do have a $10 min on credit card purchases though, so be warned.

Hours:

Monday-Saturday: 11:00am-6:00pm

Sunday: Closed

Directions: From the Metro Station, take a bus to Capitola Mall (69a/w, 66, or 68) then go right on 41 Avenue passing Capitola Road and Jade Street. It should be on the left side of the street next to a Subway and a Papa Murphy’s Pizza.

Clarissa Hyun is a Class of 2016 Psych major at UCSC. She hails from the birthland of the Mac, which she states is very overrated. On her spare time she draws, attempts to write, and eats. Which is totally a hobby. Yes.
My name is Geraldine Nicdao, a UC Santa Cruz '14 Banana Slug Alum. From day one, I was born and raised a U.S. Navy Brat and spent most of my life growing up in Japan. A few things that I absolutely love are steak, fashion, and travel. I am always striving to go beyond the cookie cutter and constantly defying everybody's expectations. One of my biggest accomplishments to date, would be finishing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco 2013. Not many know this, but I also was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and so I've had my fair challenges balancing the life of a college student and the obstacles of health. My philosophy is: "work hard and play harder" because I believe that self care is important which includes rewarding yourself for the hard work that you do- "treat yo' self!". Looking at my Instagram will give you a bit of an insight to my fun and busy bee life. One of my current projects includes the #BangingBootyProject which is a document of my goals, efforts, and strides on my own health and fitness journey. Over the next few years, I am planning to pursue a second degree in Communications and PR/Marketing.