Tậu Trâu, Lấy Vợ, Làm Nhà

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Buying a buffalo, getting married and building a house are three most essential goals in a man's life according to Vietnamese conventional social norms. In the old time, completing those three goals was a real challenge. "Buying a buffalo" represents building a career, "Getting married" is starting a family, and "Bulding a house" is the ultimate achievement of a lifetime.

With personal interests in architecture, I chose the most iconic buildings of Hanoi (St Joseph's Cathedral, Hang Dau Water Tower, Old Condominum) in combination with some of my favorite cultural symbols (water buffalo, The frog prince, rhinoceros beetle) to illustrate this idiom in a somewhat whimsical way.

The choices of details are totally personal and is a deliberate hybrid of Vietnamese and Western culture.