One per year - travel & food blog

 Welcome 2022 - the year of travel;) 

Seems like a nice way to start when I wanted to share my my other passion - traveling with my wife, Raya! Let me introduce - oneperyear.com - our travel blog!

Seeing new places, meeting new people, and eating new foods is our greatest joy in life. We've been to 40+ countries between the two of us and we've collected some amazing stories and impressions we'd like to share. We also realised we forget stuff and it's good to write things down, so here we are - having a travel blog.

​Why 'One Per Year'? The idea was born when we were turning 30 and we realised we'd visited approximately 1 new country for every year we've been alive. So we decided to set this as a goal for ourselves and visit at least one new country every year hence the name of the blog (and the availability of a .com domain, but that's a lucky coincidence).

 A quick tour of our blog post so far - 

• Amazing Japan  - travel blog
• Love love food, so a good start are Japanese food - rare treats & Japanese food - unique finds
• India - Christmas Eve with tigers and dervishes
• South Korea & hidden travel gems

And a sneak peek from Mexico🌵

Photography: my first steps in the art of telling stories with camera

Welcome 2021! 🎉🎉🎉

Looking at my blog, it seems it's been a while since my last post. A lot has changed in my professional and personal life, but I wanted to share something different this time - my love for photography.

I've made first steps with my phone camera (as everyone else), but I've always wanted to go the extra mile and be better suited to capture the beauty around us. So after a little research I got my first DSLR (Nikon camp here) and joined a photography class for beginners. 

Drum roll....📷

Let's start with the mandatory selfie shot with a model. This is a must for any wannabe photographer.

Selfie, Lisabon

Portrait @ Camden town, London

 

Experimenting with back and white photos is the next best thing when you get a new camera 

Drops of loneliness, Sofia

 

 And finding some small details and patterns around you.

 

The Kraken, London

New horizons, Bozhurishte

The last shot of unknown graffiti artist for me is a thing of beauty. I really love the sad story it tells and hope that I will be able to do the same with my photos.

Bomb kids apple, London

Let's see where this takes me ...

Stopwatch and Timer app for Windows Phone

My first mobile application Stopwatch and Timer for Windows Phone is finally ready and published to the store!

It took me almost 2 years and several weekends across it, as it's been quick busy at Jumpido. Still, I an really excited with the result. I was motivated to create Stopwatch and Timer application because Windows Phone was lacking one and the store wasn't offering anything with good functionality and design.

Stopwatch and Timer for Windows Phone is free on the store! As always I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions. If you like the app, feel free to rate and review it.

Stopwatch and timer+ offers great design with both analog and digital UI. It's quite easy to use - just click on clock face to start or stop the app. Users can view list of all laps with individual times.

Jumpido - kinect based educational game

Jumpido educational games for kinect

I'm extremely happy to share my latest project - Jumpido.

Jumpido is an exciting series of educational games for Primary School Mathematics. It combines natural body exercise with engaging Math problems to make learning a truly enjoyable experience for everyone.

Our aim is to combine physical and educational exercises  All you need is Kinect for Windows sensor, PC and a partner.

Jumpido's fairy tale immerses children in the wonderful world of learning

• Easy and fun to play
• Team work and competitive modes 
• Children learn at their own pace 
• Adaptive content to ensure endless fun 
• All guided by our magical characters

You can learn more about the Jumpido educational games for kinect at Jumpido's website. 

First days in Leicester

In my previous post I mentioned that I am moving to Leicester to continue my education. The flight to London was very exciting as I got the opportunity to be in the pilot’s cabin for a short introduction and chat with the pilots. We met with another Bulgarian, who is going to take his Bachelor’s degree in the University of Leicester so we got the chance to exchange some information about the city and the university. Initially I thought that there won’t be many people from Bulgaria, but that wasn’t the case – we met nearly 10 people already and we expect more to come.
During the last 3 days international students have experienced the welcome programme which, in my opinion, is very intense and exiting. We have lectures about common problems for all international students like how to open a bank account, accommodation issues, how to register with a GP, interesting facts about Leicester’s history and many more. The most interesting was the Open Tour of Leicester which leaves me thinking about how many places we have to visit in the forthcoming year.
For the evenings the Students’ Union have organised interesting events like games in the bar, disco, Irish Dancing Party, Karaoke Night and even Wine and Cheese evening for postgraduate and PhD students. It is very funny to watch more than 300 students who have no previous experience in Irish dancing moving around and trying to follow the steps of the instructor. The events so far leave me in wait for the beginning of the academic year.
Tomorrow we are invited to meet the mayor of Leicester in the oldest museum in the town and as for Sunday we have booked a trip to the Warwick Castle.

Moving to Leicester

In a couple of days I am going to continue my education in the University of Leicester . This is one of the top UK universities and was named University of the Year in the last Times Higher Education awards. It was also ranked 2nd in the last Student Satisfaction Rating in the National Survey and 2nd in the Business and management studies, which is very important to me since I will be taking the MSc in Management course.
I am very proud to be accepted in such a prestigious and inspiring institution. In the next year I will be staying at the university’s campus which is only on a 5 minute walking distance from the university (I can’t wait to get out the awful traffic of Sofia). Leicester is the first environment city so I expect it to be a nice place to live and study. I am going to post a little bit more about the University and the city when we arrive.
GO GO Foxes!!!

Envision – innovation at primary schools

How can we change the future? Can we improve the educational process in schools? Can we reduce the cost of hardware needed for computer aided education?
My answer to those questions is innovative, fun and cost effective software called Envision.

I am proud to be a part of the team that is trying to make a difference for so many people. But what do I mean exactly? In a typical classroom the teacher is talking in front of the whole class. Even if the teacher is using multimedia, students can’t take active part in the lesson simultaneously at all times. They are just listening instead of learning by making. That is what we are trying to change.

Envision requires only a minimal set of hardware: one computer, one projector and a mouse for every student. The teacher is using the computer, while the projector makes the picture big enough to be seen by all students. Pupils can interact with the system using their mice. Everyone has their own cursor on the screen, so they can answer questions, arrange objects, type text using virtual keyboard, locate objects on the screen and participate in other competitive or collaborative activities. You can find more information about Envision at our website.