Go belly dancing in exotic Sydenham and other London, United Kingdom Shopping Tips

Name of Shop: Koochi Bazaar

The dusty Sydenham Road makes an unlikely setting for a shop specialising in belly dancing clothes and accessories. Lovely jewelled costumes ...
Finger cymbals...
Jewels designed to fit every part of the body ...
Lamps
Music
Old black and white pictures of Cairo dancers in days gone by.

The owner also has a wonderful book with pictures of accommodation in a village by Luxor, available to rent at low prices. She owns one of the properties, and knows of others.


What To Pay: 99p for a card up to 100 pounds for part of a costume. Skirts are about 25 pounds

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Theme: Other
Phone: 020 8659 8042
Address: 140 Syndenham Road, London SE26 5JZ
Directions: Sydenham Train station or the 122 bus
Other Contact: koochibazaar@hotmail.com

Name of Shop: Lewisham Market & local shops

This tip is aimed at those who are spending some time in South East London, or living locally, particularly if on a tight budget. There are great markets in London for tourists just here for a week or so, such as Columbia Road flower market, Borough, Camden or Portobello: this is more of a place for doing a weekly shop.

Lewisham is primarily a fruit & vegetable market (nothing really special in the clothes line). The stalls set up each weekday at 8.30am, with the stall holders chatting, singing and laughing. Queues build up at the best stalls - look out for this. I've been given great tips on cooking unfamilar foods while waiting in queues!

Some of the stalls sell very cheap products in 'scoops' but be wary - quality is variable. My favourite stall is the one pictured which is very frendly and sells great quality products aimed at Lewisham's diverse community: you can pick out what you want here, unlike some stalls where the best stuff is on display but not for sale.

There are a couple of takeaway stalls at the market: a donut stall down - also a German hot-dog stand near the clock tower. Opposite the market is a traditional 'eel pie and mash' cafe and a great fabric shop called 'rolls & reams'.

From time to time a group of French people set up here, selling fabulous cheeses, sausages & other deli products.

Shops nearby: TFC (Turkish Food Centre) further on down the High Street - past the Central Library but before the swimming baths - sells a good range of vegetables and really great bread, pastries, borek, plus halva, nuts, olives, pulses, ayran, hummus, yoghurt, tinned specialities. Delicious.

In the other direction, in Lewis Grove, just off the High Street, you'll find a really good, long-established Italian deli 'Gennaro': ham, cheese, pasta, sweets - really excellent. Further on round into Lee High Road you'll find more unusual food shops - I particularly recommend a new(ish) Polish supermarket, a little Sri Lankan shop and a smart chinese minimarket.



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Theme: Food and Drink
Address: Lewisham High Street, London SE12
Directions: This is really a resource for local people - not something to travel miles and miles for. There are lots of buses (185, 122, P4, 208 and many more). Docklands Light railway stops at Lewisham and is 5 minutes away, as is the overground station.

Name of Shop: Junk shop, Loampit Vale

If you are from Lewisham and have been down Loampit Vale you'll remember this place.

That junk shop in an old railway station building, just past the strange pink and yellow 'Hansel and Gretal' house.

The shop with the pink cadillac on the roof, Marilyn with her shirt blowing up over her head and a lifesize Chef out front.
The shop with a glittering room of chandeliers and 1930s glass lampshades and mirrors.
The towering rows of iron beds, doorways and mantlepeices from Victorian houses. Everything from a cheap mattress to a C19th oil painting. Rockinghorses, bow fronted cabinets, cherubs, swagger statues, doorknobs.

Out back there is a whole yard of slates and bricks and 1930s shop or train signs along with well priced garden furniture.



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Theme: Antiques
Address: Loampit Vale London SE12

Name of Shop: Bookseller Crow on the Hill

Independent bookshops in London are having a bad time (surprise).
Yes, Amazon and the knock-down prices in supermarkets & big chains like Borders.
Bookseller Crow on the Hill's blog describes how customers will browse for ages in the shop and depart with a blatant ' I'm going to order from Amazon'. However, this place remains in business and Time Out described it "as one of the best.

The shop has an amazing selection for its size and the owners and staff can suggest what you are looking for from just a snippet : "It's that book about a murder.. they find a dead body;" "I think it has a sort of red cover and the author's name begins with an M;" "It's the latest one by whatisname."

They stock a wide range of independently published books too, titles you may never see anywhere else: i recommend 'Lonely Werewolf Girl' by Martin Millar (though I hope that one is widely known elsewhere). They also introduced me to one of the best (funny/poignant) books I have read for a long time 'What was Lost' by Catherine O'Flynn.

They sell a small selection of gifts, like T-shirts ("667 the neighbour of the beast") and cards. Always good music playing ... well, almost always.

They are based in Crystal Palace, a great part of South east London for a day out. Lots of good small shops, cafes and restaurants, almost no chain stores - and a lovely park to explore.



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Theme: Books
Phone: 020 8771 8831
Address: 50 Westow St, London SE19 3AF
Website: http://www.booksellercrow.com/