It's partly adopted from Food Blog Code of Ethics.
1. Paid Reviews
I need to make this loud and clear - any offer to cash payment (or equivalent) to feature a restaurant or hotel or in fact anything, or as added incentive to sway the directions of how and what I write about and share my experiences, will be flatly rejected and scorned upon. Don't even try.
2. Media Invitations
From time to time I do receive invitations from marketers or PR agencies to attend hosted tastings or events. While I don't solicit such invitations, I am open to accept them (with much gratitude) if they came to my way and if that involved something that I am personally interested in - and if you read my blog regularly or follow my twitter/instagram account you should have a good idea what those might be.
Generally speaking any event/tasting invitation must come with no string attached - how and what I shared about the events I attended is at my own discretion. (unless it's a dinner date with Gigi Leung or something, then I will do whatever you want me to) Usually I will post on my social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr and my blog in any way as I see fit - however I cannot guarantee coverage or any level of coverage. And any stories I shared in my blog that were derived from invited events or any vested interest/connection will be fully disclosed as such. The same applies to any product/service reviews or familiarization trips being offered (and accepted).
3. Fair and Honest Opinions
I try my best to be as fair and true and honest as possible when I share my experiences - whether that be related to food, travel or whatever I decided to write or post, and I stood by any of my opinion and content. You won't find any ratings here as I am in the opinion that there's no perfect way to do a 100% impartial review so I might as well not try.
I am especially careful when I deal with new establishments or if it involved a predominantly negative experience, knowing the challenges of starting something new, and the potential impact any negativity may inadvertently cause - even though it's never my intention to harm anyone. By careful I mean I will take those special circumstances into account, without sacrificing accuracy of what I said or my integrity. And I welcome any comment and/or criticism - but I am not obligated to post or respond to all of them, especially those of personal attack or offensive in nature.
4. Copyright
I retain copyright of my work here - including but not limited to words, photographs or other creative work by myself. Please seek permission if you want to use any of my materials - happy to discuss any licensing/right-to-use arrangements with any interested party. At the same time, I respect other people's copyright as well - I prefer using my own photographs but in the rare occasion that I need to use other people's materials, I will seek consent before I use them, and the source would be properly referenced and credited. Recipe is a particularly tricky one since it's almost impossible to have one 100% original recipe - I would try to be as transparent and forthcoming as I could if my recipe is derived from or inspired by another source, even if that means I would go beyond what the copyright rules required in my disclosure.
5. Advertisements
The ads displayed on the blog pages were managed by Google AdSense - it does not constitute my endorsement nor approvals for whatever products/services those advertisements were promoting. Proceeds of those ad revenues will go directly to my "Kitchen Toy Fund" - just so you know.
6. Freelance Projects
I am open to any proposal for freelance work as copywriter or photographer on project-by-project basis, particularly on the subject of food, travel and lifestyle. Even though I myself don't think I am any good at those, but do feel free to get in touch with me regarding those opportunities. Some of my photography work could be licensed through Getty Images where I contribute regularly and you can find my portfolio here or here.
You will also find my social media presence in other outlets, including but not limited to Twitter (Now X) and Instagram under the handle g4gary, when I feel I can express myself better through a 140-character tweet or through pictures I captured on my camera or phone.
Other than eating, drinking, working and sleeping, I also enjoyed a game of golf every now and then (which has reduced to almost an annual event only these days), traveling around a little bit, and sticking my bum to the couch every Saturday evening rooting for the long underachieving Tottenham Hotspur football club (often with a plate of homemade dessert on hand).