Thomas Crampton: www.thomascrampton.com

As a journalist, Thomas Crampton reported on financial crises, civil unrest, and SARS, but nothing in his two-decade career fully prepared him for life as a blogger. “The strangest feedback I ever got was from a woman offering eight litres of breast milk,” recalls Crampton with a laugh. He had been promoting a kids charity, and while he never met the woman, he does remember one detail. “She said it was frozen.”

It’s been one virtual adventure after another, and Crampton says it all started with peer pressure. “My friends kept telling me I needed to blog. They said I had great experiences that I had to share.”

No disputing that. During a distinguished reporting career in New York, Paris, Bangkok, and Hong Kong for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times, the Irish-American began blogging in 2003 to supplement his print reporting. Excited by the ability to “express yourself and reach an audience you otherwise wouldn’t,” Crampton left journalism in 2006 and hasn’t looked back. “Journalism is about perfection. Blogging is about iteration – it’s about interacting with people.”

His most popular posting to date, ‘How Facebook Ended My Marriage,’ proved a case study of the internet’s reach. The post described how his then-fiancée (now wife), having second thoughts about revealing personal info, decided to pull their engagement announcement from Facebook. The move automatically generated a message to the couple’s Facebook friends that they had separated. Crampton scrambled to send a clarifying message, but not before friends and strangers sent encouraging words.

Far from being spooked, Crampton says the Facebook ordeal proved helpful. He now works for PR agency Oglivy and advises on digital strategy. Asked how long he’ll blog, Crampton is emphatic. “I’m not giving it up, no way.” The man’s come round, with or without those eight litres of milk.

Crampton recommends joi.ito.com (“He was one of the friends who got me into this.”) 

Patricia Wong: plainfaceangel.blogspot.com

Popular foodie Patricia Wong, the ‘plain faced angel’ of the blogosphere, has proved many times over the influence of food blogging on Hong Kong dining habits.

After she once made biting remarks about the food quality at Freshness Burger, and drew huge responses on the web, the restaurant chain’s management sent her an email of apology and arranged an exclusive burger tasting. Wong, looking confident in casual jeans, says, “One thing readers love about my posts is when I make my comments really frank.”

Begun in 2006, her blog has long topped the thousand-strong list of ‘Cuisine & Leisure blogs’ on Hong Kong online poll site top-bloggers.com, and currently has over 5,000 daily page views. The gastronome shares restaurant reviews, culinary news, and recipes with the city’s internet-savvy food enthusiasts.

To stand out from other food blogs, Wong, a website designer in her professional life, emphasises that fabulous pictures are key. “I spend as much time on photo shooting as editing, because I believe that an appetising photo reflects your passion for the food,” she explains; hence the luscious-looking cakes and gleaming layer of congee.

Besides attracting diehard foodies and secret admirers, the blog brings other unexpected benefits and opportunities. “I’m often invited to food tastings in new restaurants, and also by different brands to try out new products and give feedback,” she adds. “Recently, I’ve been asked to try out a pair of new trainers that are meant to tighten your butt, and then say a few words in my blog.”

Despite recently expanding beyond her original culinary remit, Wong is still foremost focused on food. In an exclusive, she revealed to us her new plan: to review the worst restaurants in town and publish a provocative list to shock and surprise readers. Not so angelic, then.

Wong recommends www.wretch.cc/blog/trufflerose (“an attractive Taiwanese blog that shares seasonal recipes”).