Deano76 wants some flavoured condoms, PhilRoots wants some posh wine, Elainebaba wants some flowers and Karenuk wants to go to Lush....Let's face it, if you are coming to the meeting, you are going to want to do some shopping, right? Well, as a resident of Brum, I am here to guide the way for all you bemused souls...

Birmingham has an abundance of shops, shopping centres and retail parks, so if you like shopping you are in for a treat.

You have all of the ordinary mainstream shops as in any city such as M+S, Lush and department stores like BHS and Beatties (which is in place of the old C+A). In the city centre there are 2 HMV's and all of the shops you would expect to find like Gap, Woolworths and WHSmith.

The House Of Fraser department store, Rackhams, is on Corporation Street and consists of five floors of luxury home furnishings, designer clothes, and (on the ground level) orange faced ladies trying to spray perfume on you. It is a good idea to go here before a night out and test out the most expensive perfume so you smell lovely (and rich) all night. Not that *I* would do that... The food hall of Rackhams sells lovelt posh gourmet food and chocolates..yum.

For teenagers and young people, there are all the usual shops- Miss Selfridge, H+M, Top Shop and Bay to name a few. You can find a Pilot store in the Pallasades shopping centre. I like this store because the sizes actually fit, there is a 10% student discount and the clothes are quite cheap.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, you could also go to Hypnotic, a horrible shop in the Oasis market. All of the clothes are £5.99 (with good reason), they always play garage music, it is crowded and always full of 15 year olds with pushchairs blocking the aisles. But still, that may be your scene!

*Music*

You can try Reddington Rare records or Dance Music Exchange in Digbeth, near the coach station. These are huge record stores, Reddingtons is for indie and alternative music and Dance Music Exchange for all genres of dance music and equipment. There is also Swordfish records, on Castle Street, leading up to the cathedral. You can buy concert and local gig tickets here as well as pick up loads of flyers. You can pick up CD's in here much cheaper than in the mainstream shops so a visit is well advised (if you can get past the 12 year old grungers).

*Oasis*

Oasis is basically made up of many little stalls. Some are for clothes, mainly band tops (generally black hoodies with band names on). I remember saving up my dinner money to buy a Nirvana one when I was 12...My friend did the same, but her Mum burned the offending item as it had the words "MOTHERF*****" on the back. What a waste!

*Clubbing Stuff*

*Markets*

The rag market and indoor markets are worth a visit, especially for fresh food and bathroom things. These markets are located in brand new buildings which are light and airy so much nicer than the old dark buildings. You can find everything in here from make up to fish (the fish section reeks by the way) to rugs. Just don't buy playstation games there, like my friend did once, as if it doesn't work or cacks up your machine you will have no comeback.

The jewellery Quarter in Birmingham can be reached on the number 8 bus or the metro (from Snow Hill station). This is not just for rich people as there are lots of shops there for all price ranges. You can get engraving done there at very reasonable prices, and have a very nice time looking at all the diamonds. This area is very pleasant and much better to buy individual peices and presents from than H Samuels.

In recent years, the city centre has been much improved, mostly by banishing cars from the majority of the city centre. No crowded pavements anymore then! There are quite a lot of benches dotted around to rest your weary legs on, and on the whole the city centre is pleasant to shop in. The area around the markets and bus stops are not so nice, as to be expected.

In the summer, many people gather around Victoria and Centenary Square which are pleasant with many seating places and fountains. If you are a young girl though, you will get approached by about a million foreign blokes trying to practise their limited grasp of the English language on you. You may enjoy this, you may not.

In Packages you can buy funky cards (furry or ones with jelly babies on, for example), watches (especially trendy Storm ones), room accessories (I have a lovely lampshade in the shape of a star from here that cost only a few pounds). You can also buy rude things like flavoured condoms and fake boobs, if that is your kind of thing! This is a nice shop to browse in and buy gifts that are a little different from the norm.