Lotus Pagoda

What a great little find in the quieter end of Ilac mall!
You actually can smell the shop several doors away, with the biggest range of incense sticks I’ve seen. Oil burners and essential oils are aplenty too. There are other traditional Asian products reminiscent of shops back in Singapore and Thailand. Oh and a great section on yoga mats and other props — all very reasonably priced!
I bought myself a little mist diffuser after seeing it used in the store with a gorgeous lemongrass scent. The owner took the time to show me how to use and clean it, with some handy tips — great customer service :)
Now don’t mind me while I zen out in my lounge with a blend of lavender, bergamot and grapefruit aromatherapy…

Ah the ILAC centre, home of the weird and the wonderful.
If you’re an incense burning/​yoga class taking kind of person, Pagoda is right up your street.
I would agree with Mary C though, that on first passing this store, you would probably dismiss it as some generic gift shop, full of old tat that nobody really needs; but you would be surprised to find some pretty good affordable stuff in here. I would especially recommend it to anyone trying to jazz up their house on a budget.
I was really surprised to find beautiful little cotton mats on sale, which were priced at a fiver; this seems to be the median price for anything on offer in Pagoda. They also stock every type of incense under the rainbow, along with an assortment of some really cool oil burners.
Aside from their New Age range of products, there is a nice range of Asian gifts. Definitely a great place to go if you’re throwing an Asian themed dinner night. There is some crappy gifts floating around the shop — healing stones, anyone? — but overall, Pagoda is a pleasant surprise.

At first I categorized Pagoda as your standard kind of crappy gift shop, but in reality I think it’s got some great stuff!
It’s kind of a hodge podge of stuff, with the main thrust being Asian-​inspired home goods and gifts. They have some nice wooden boxes with Asian details, pretty tea tins, large decorative fans and paper lanterns. But they also have some random stuff, like a wide selection of picnic baskets replete with cups and plate! I think these are actually really cool and handy. Imagine if you got invited on a date and the guy or girl busted out one of these sets, a delicious picnic dinner and a bottle of wine. All I’m saying is that if that happened to me, that guy would probably be getting some later.