I'm Only Here for the Food!

In a way, it started with this post. Go ahead, it is in an interesting post and I will still be here

Are you back? Good… A lot can be said about blogs, what is written and how it is written. While I believe everybody ought be able to express their opinions, at the same time, I believe, if you do so, you ought to be responsible for what you say, too. To quote Spider-Man: “with great power comes great responsibility”. To prevent myself from going unchecked, here is a list of how this blog works and you can expect from it. If I fail in one of these (either by omission, mental gap, lack of judgment or a moment of stupidity), please, please, let me know. My address is kimho [at] imonlyhereforthefood [dot] com.

• As of July 1st, 2009, there are no additional/guest writers for this blog. I am the only writer/editor and, as a result, I am responsible for all the posts and my own comments.
• Other than pictures from ads and from associated/sponsor links, all pictures shown in this blog post are mine. That means I don’t take pictures from other sites without prior consent and proper credit. If you believe a picture was taken illegally from another site, drop me an email and will investigate that.
• I try my best not to take pictures of others, specially when I am inside a restaurant. However, in events/festivals/celebrations, that is close to impossible. As far as I know, taking picture in a public place is not illegal; however, in my attempt to be a good neighbor/citizen, if you appear on one of those pictures and wished it removed, please, drop me an email.
• On the note about taking pictures in public places, I wrote this post some time ago.
• Other than revenue generated from ads (which is negligible), this blog is not associated with any PR firm or restaurant. Unfortunately, I do not have completely control over the ads…
• I do not do reviews. I know that a lot of readers refer to my posts as “reviews” but they aren’t. I only have that much time and resources ($$$, being the main “lacking” resource), not to mention the sheer amount of restaurants in Vancouver. As a result, I tend to visit a restaurant once for blogging purposes – whether I visit them afterwards with friends, that is a completely different issue. Since one visit can’t provide everything a restaurant can offer, think of my posts (and, yes, I refer them as “posts”) as first impressions – the same way first impression is what usually counts.
• At the same time, if you feel my visit does not represent the actual dining experience in that restaurant, please, tell me why it is unfair, what I missed or what I should have ordered. I am a reasonable person and, if your arguments are convincing enough, I will do a re-visit. (I have done several revisits already for this exact reason).
• During my visit to restaurants, I never disclose I write a blog – not even when I am asked why I am taking pictures. Instead, I just go on with my business. This is because what I want to document is what any diner would experience in the restaurant if you would go yourself. If for some reason I feel I have been given preferential treatment (“better” service/free samples/dishes) because I was taking pictures with my camera or taking notes about the food, I will document that in my post.
• I will never, ever “fish” for free meals. As mentioned above, my visits are about experiences an average diner might have.
• I have been invited to the past to open houses and PR campaigns but, so far, I have not attended to any of them. It boils down to accessibility: if it is an event an average person can participate, chances are I will go. If it is an “VIP” event, chances are I won’t attend.
• There are only a couple of things I won’t eat but, other than that, everything is fair game. However, I do have biases. For example, French and Mexican are not too high in my list. I will always try to disclose these biases.
• Almost all meals have been paid out of my pocket. There are some exceptions: when I am on a business trip (where my meals are business expenses) or I have been invited by a friend. In those cases, if I feel I was given preferential treatment (other than that of a “regular” guest), I will note that the same way.
• While I do not believe in censorship, I do believe there ought to be some level of control. This mean other than spam, most likely I will approve all comments. Yes, even if you disagree with me. However, I reserve the rights to lock comments in the event I feel they go out of hand. If it is something directed to me personally, we can deal with that in private.
• Sometimes we might write things we might regret later (I personally try not to fall into this “trap”). If you wrote a comment but feels that it was inappropriate or there was some lack of judgment at the time you hit the send button, drop me an email.
• I have a full time job and I take my job seriously (too seriously according to some people who have known me “long enough”). However, this blog being a hobby, should be taken lightly. How so? If you are taking a post too seriously, you are missing the whole point.

Of course this list is not an all-inclusive list. It should evolve as this blog grows. Again, if there is something you read and have concerns about it, please, drop me an email – kimho [at] imonlyhereforthefood [dot] com!