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Feast on the east
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Look toward the sunrise for mysterious and charming gifts
by LORRAINE CARPENTER
Turning our sights and our wallets to the East, way East, past the Big O, original and exotic delights from India, China, Japan and Thailand might impress the loved ones and co-workers you're forced to play Santa with. Firstly, if you're of the cheap bastard persuasion, confuse your office brethren with palm-sized figurines of that other jolly fat man, Buddha, available at Le Centre du Cadeau Oriental (69 de la Gauchetière, Chinatown), a steal at $1.99.
Or go the more practical, yet still affordable route with a wooden massager, only $6.95 at the Marché Oriental (2075 St-Denis). Made in India, this rolling massage tool will unburden the hands of amateur masseurs and masseuses, and can double as a gift for yourself. "Here, you try..."
Getting more intimate here, a classic and suggestive gift for the bedtime reader is the Kama Sutra, available in a variety of shapes, sizes, editions and positions. Chapters/Indigo carries multiple versions of the ancient sex guide, but try the 1999 release by Marlowe & Co. The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra: With Extracts From Koka Shastra, Anaga Ranga, and Other Famous Indian Works on Love. It features 192 pages of text and colourful paintings of robotically flexible folk. Naughty or nice, that's $35.50.
From the art of sex to the art of tea, and where better to shop for tea paraphernalia than the Camellia Sinensis Tea Boutique (347 Emery, near St-Denis), which doubles as a "maison de thé" and carries 125 varieties of the stuff. A selection of cast-iron, porcelain and clay teapots ranges from $30-80, while cute and classy tea sets could set you back $68-80.
Green tea, jasmine tea and chai may soothe the body, but try Chinese bamboo wind chimes for that friend who needs some peace of mind. While not entirely practical for our enclosed winter months, the subtle clonks of natural bamboo can be a calming force come spring. The chimes come in two sizes, for $12.95 and $35.99 at the Boutique Oriental (5721 Sherbrooke W., near Wilson), but the smaller model should be more than adequate for a window or back porch.
Let's overlook Hello Kitty and animé for a moment to consider the less paedo-centric Japanese art of paper craft. And it's not all about origami. Delicate note paper in a soft wood bag tied up with a little bark-covered pencil makes a precious, practical and affordable stocking stuffer at $7.50, available from Au Papier Japonais (24 Fairmount W., near St-Laurent). The same store carries "toji-biraki," small notebooks which fold out accordion-style, in a variety of patterns, all $13.
Turn on to Nipon
While Japan went wild with clunky, kitschy monster films in the '60s, director Masaki Kobayashi decided to bring traditional Japanese ghost stories to film with Kwaidan (1964), four eerie, visually rich tales of the supernatural. Criterion has issued the restored, 163-minute version on DVD (previous editions were cut for length), available at the HMV Megastore (1020 Ste-Catherine W.) for $42.99, a great gift for the open-minded film buff near you.
Now back to China and a film that needs no introduction, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Savvy classical connoisseurs will have picked up on the soundtrack by Chinese classical/avant-garde composer Tan Dun, so why not treat a music lover to Bitter Love, his 1999 album on the Sony Classics label. This little gem costs only $11.97 at www.amazon.com, for all you stay-at-home shoppers.
Let's shift gears here and talk about smoking. It might turn human beings into impotent, cancerous beasts full of abscesses, but with these pipes, the folks on your gift list will be too cool to care. Don't ask me where to buy opium (and stop with that urban myth about opium-dealing cabbies, okay?), but beautifully carved Thai pipes can be had at Saithong (415 Lemoyne, Old Montreal) for $95-135. And, moving to the Middle East now, ornamental Arabic water pipes are available at the aforementioned Tea Boutique (347 Emery, near St-Denis). The "narguile" does double duty as decor and an ideal vessel for flavoured tobaccos or whatever else people smoke with friends in large quantities. And the gift of this pricey item ($100) basically guarantees you a seat at the inaugural smoke-off. Happy, hippie holidays.
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