Cultured Individual's Second-Half Recap of 2019

In my first-half recap of 2019, I mentioned that I was going to write a post about my blog entries between July and December of 2019. Well, now is the time where I can share my highlights from the second half of 2019. I would normally write about my hopes for the next year at the end of my recap post, but I will save that as its own post. As expected, I write about travel, video games, local events, places to eat, and share some personal stories.

In the months of July and August, I was writing my blog posts of my time in Jamaica for a friend's wedding. I went to many places and partook in many activities, but my favorite highlight in Jamaica was going to the village of Nine Mile to visit Bob Marley's final resting place. I had an incredible feeling of reverence walking through the museum and his childhood home. I also never thought that I would be so close to such an important figure in music and in human history when I went inside his mausoleum. If you are any sort of a reggae lover and can make the trip, then it is essential that you go visit Bob Marley's resting place in Nine Mile, Jamaica. Another highlight of my Jamaica trip is going snorkeling and getting stupid drunk on a party boat along Jamaica's north coast.

I also went on an impromptu trip to Atlanta, Georgia during the Labor Day weekend. I went to some places around downtown Atlanta, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, and the National Civil Rights Museum. Both places opened my eyes to the mistreatment that human beings can give to other human beings. Stone Mountain was also an interesting place to visit.

I made the effort to go to some local events in and around the City of Toronto. The Legends of Horror walk at Casa Loma, despite being a bit expensive, was an amazing production of spooky sights and sounds. There was also a similarly amazing production at WinterFest inside Canada's Wonderland. The overall setting made for a festive, magical, and possibly romantic experience (if you were with a significant other). I recommend that you go to both events at least once.

I only wrote two video game reviews in the second half of 2019, and both of them provided different experiences for me. Borderlands 2 is one of my favorite video games due to its incredible writing, and its therapeutic gameplay of shooting and looting. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild of one of the best video games of this decade due to its breathtaking open-world and refreshing variety of gameplay.

I did go eat at a few places as well. The Brownie Hot Fudge at Dutch Dreams was a memorable food experience due to the sheer size of the dessert I ordered. I also gave my review of a high-class steakhouse for the first time.

Lastly, I would like to share a couple of personal anecdotes. In October, I went to BMO Field to witness the Canadian men's soccer team beat the USA 2-0, and I wrote about what that result meant to me on an emotional level. I also briefly write about a girl I knew in university and how our personalities clicked in place to create a brief, strong friendship.

So there you have it. These are my highlights from the second half of 2019. I will write about my hopes for the year 2020 in my next post, so stay tuned...