How I Lost 100 Pounds

You wouldn't know it by looking at me now, but there was a time in my life not so long ago when I was seriously overweight.  For most of my life before I had entered my thirties, I never really had any struggles with my weight.  I stand at five feet and nine inches tall and my usual weight up until the age of 31 had always been somewhere between 130 to 135 pounds.  At times, I've even been told that I was too thin.  But then sometime in my early thirties, the weight did come on in a drastic and quick way.  And once it did, I just couldn't shed the pounds in order to bounce back to my normal weight. Instead, I just kept the weight on for a number of years and even added more pounds gradually until I hit my heaviest, which was at 236 pounds.  That was when I realized that my weight problem was really serious and that I had to do something about it.

It's really scary when I think back at just how quickly I had put on the weight.  Sometime toward the end of the year 2003, after experiencing a series of personal tragedies in my life I ended up falling into a deep depression.  Without getting too much into details, what had caused my depression mainly were the unexpected passings of my grandmother whom I loved dearly and a very close friend and confidante of mine, singer Anh Tu, that both happened one right after the other.  It was all too much for me to take.  Unfortunately, how I chose to deal with my grief then turned out to be quite self-destructive and detrimental to my health.  Like a lot of folks, I turned to the bottle.  And then when that couldn't give me enough comfort, I added food to that dangerous equation.  Consequentially, I put on a total of 62 pounds in a period of just three months.  Once those 62 pounds were added to my weight, I just couldn't get my weight back down.  From April of 2004 all the way through the first half of the year in 2008, I was fat.  It got worse and worse and then ultimately I hit rock bottom weighing 236 pounds during the winter of 2007, having put on an excess total of 100 pounds.  I was just miserable.

I had gained so much weight that I looked unrecognizable.  But I still wasn't fully aware that I had put on that much weight.  Despite how I would weigh myself on the scale and see this enormous number pop up for my weight size, I still hadn't really grasped the whole reality that I was now really a fat person.  It had to take a few painful and embarrassing events of having to hear it from others to finally sink in for me.  I now look back and really appreciate the individuals who were honest with me, because that was what I truly needed to hear.  If it weren't for their honesty, I would still be in that same bubble today, still trying to convince myself that I didn't really look all that bad.  But I really did.  The first person that was honest with me was a friend of mine, singer Diem Lien.  I had run into her sometime during the winter of 2007 when I dropped by the Majestic Nightclub in Huntington Beach to show my support for Luu Bich and Thuy Tien on the night of their show called White Party.  It had been a while since I had been around the Vietnamese entertainment scene since I had left the singing business sometime ago.  When I spotted Diem Lien at the bar counter that night, I called out her name and put my arms out expecting to get a hug from her.  But she didn't respond but gave me a rather puzzled look back instead.  I looked at her again and said, "Diem, it's me, Thien Phu!  Don't you remember me?"

"Is it really you?  You're not kidding me?" she asked.  "My goodness, you've really changed.  You look so different now."

"Well, it's been about ten years," I replied.  "But how so do I look different?  Is it because I've gotten fat?"

She couldn't give me an answer right away, and just paused while she swallowed a big gulp.

"Come on, tell me the truth.  Am I really that fat?"

Again, she kept silent and proceeded to lower her head as if she was staring at the floor below.  Then a moment after, she finally looked up at me and whispered in a gentle voice, "Yeah, I couldn't even recognize that it was you."

I really took Diem Lien's honesty to heart.  I finally came to the realization of my weight problem and was deeply saddened.  Of course, I wasn't saddened by Diem Lien in particular, because she hadn't done anything wrong.  She is a really sweet girl and was only being honest, which was what I really needed.  From that moment on, that's when I started to take a serious approach at trying to lose the excessive weight.  I had to.  I needed to look like me again rather than continue life hiding underneath this fat person I've turned into for the past several years.

That next day I went to see my doctor about getting myself on a serious diet regiment program to lose weight.  He recommended the Atkins' Diet and gave me a brochure to read more about it.  I wasn't completely sold on it.  Given how desperate I was then, I would try anything.  But just the idea of having to eat nothing but meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner each and every day didn't really appeal to me.  I'm not a vegetarian nor would I try to ever become one again.  Years ago, I had foolishly given into peer pressure and turned into a vegetarian just because I was trying to fit in.  I was in college then and the people whom I thought were really cool all seemed to have jumped on this bandwagon which tooted the slogan, "Meat is Murder".  I had grown up as a meat-eater.  But I also liked eating vegetables.  I ate everything, come to think of it.  And meat was just part of my normal daily regiment growing up.  I was also never really into animal rights or had ever thought much about the equation of how eating meat meant animal cruelty.  It did take me a while back then to be recruited into vegetarianism.  That whole bit about how we shouldn't eat meat because of how cruel it is to kill animals never really phased me.  I've always been an avid believer in human rights above all others. To me, there are so many social injustices in the world with how humans treat one another that I'm more concerned with than the rights of animals.  But one thing I definitely don't celebrate, although I'm sure I'm also guilty of, is hypocrisy.  I think what had kept me for a while from giving in to vegetarianism was how so many of my friends back in college, these so-called anti-meat, animal rights crusaders while sporting the "Meat Is Murder" slogan would also have no qualms about wearing leather.  Oh, but wearing fur coats was an absolute no-no.  It just didn't add up for me.  But when they started feeding me with how becoming a vegetarian would be a positive step towards better health, I was then sold.  I was really young then.  I didn't smoke, drink or even had taken a diet pill ever back then because I had been told these things were bad for you.  So I tried being a vegetarian for about a year and a half and ended up in the hospital.  It turns out I have O negative blood type and because of my not eating any meat during that period of being a vegetarian, my body was not getting enough iron.  My blood had a level of deficiency in iron that was so poor that I was considered borderline anemic when I had fainted and was taken to the hospital.  I am living proof that vegetarianism is not a healthy lifestyle for everyone.  It almost killed me.  Just like what they say about how we should stay away from red meat and that chicken is the healthier meat choice instead, a few years back, I had been diagnosed by an allergist physician with an intolerance to poultry.  When I eat chicken, my throat swells up, I itch and my skin develops a rash.  Once again, in my case whatever the general consensus might say is healthy or good for you doesn't apply to me.  Everyone is different.  What might work for someone, or even for the majority of people, just might not work for you.  The same thing applies when it comes to dieting.  I found the Atkins' Diet to be compelling, for the most part.  But the whole part of just eating meat and not having to exercise in order to lose weight didn't really appeal to me all that much.  I wanted to lose the weight, look better and be healthier.  So I went about it my way.  I combined the theories of the Atkins' Diet, Suzanne Somers' Somersize, which I liked better, to stay away from consuming too much carbs, plus I would exercise and eat more salads versus meat and potatoes.  It took a long time, but it worked.

In a matter of 14 months, I lost a total of almost 100 pounds.  I was able to reach my goal of weighing less than 150 pounds on February of 2009 and have since kept the weight off.  I now weigh 138 pounds, which is about the same as my weight when I was still a senior back in high school.  Now I'll be honest that it was not an easy thing to do losing all that weight.  There were times I had gotten so frustrated that I took drastic measures that were quite dangerous in trying to lose the weight.  Yes, I had turned to diet pills, drugs and even tried starving myself.  I have learned that those were not the right ways to lose weight because what happens when you do resort to taking diet pills, the use of meth amphetamine or self starvation is that you end up losing water, not necessarily fat from your body.  It will give you the illusion that you've trimmed down and have shed the excessive weight the right way.  But the weight just comes right back on once you stop taking the pills or using meth.  That is definitely hazardous to one's health losing and gaining weight back and forth like a yo-yo.  The only way I've found to lose the weight and keep it off is by watching what I eat and exercising.  I know it might sound like it's easier said than done, because it truly is.  You must be determined and really push yourself if you want to lose the weight.  In my case, I wasn't going to be satisfied like how some people I know that are fat who go on a diet to lose 30 pounds, so happy after losing a little weight that they go around bragging to everyone about it just to get compliments on how great they look.  At that point, they start to feel as if they've reached a plateau and then stop with their dieting just to gain back all the weight or even more so.  The reality with many of these people is that they were still faraway from reaching what should have been their goal which is to lose altogether 100 to 200 pounds.  They don't look all that great after just losing 30 pounds, because they are still fat.  Frankly, whenever I hear someone who is more than 100 pounds overweight tell me how they have just lost 30 pounds, I really can't tell whether they had actually lost the weight or put on another 30 pounds.  I didn't want to end up being like one of those people.  That is why I made the conscious effort to successfully lose the weight.  I'm myself again.  I guess it is more appropriate that I now disclose why I had taken such a long hiatus from the singing profession when I did a while back.  It is true that I had gone through some personal problems that I needed to straighten out during those seven years absent from performing on stage, as I've said on several television and radio interviews several years ago.  But the primary reason was that I was just too fat and couldn't face my audience.  Now, I just can't tell you just how wonderful it feels to be on stage and sing to audiences who are able to recognize me from before.  No longer do I have to hear such remarks like, "You can't be Thien Phu.  He was never fat like you."  Thank goodness, my fat days are now gone.  

Does Anyone Know Where Singer Ngoc Hue Is?

Back in the 1990s, among Vietnamese female singers who sing in the particular genre of music known as, "Nhac Tre", popular music for the younger generation, the three hottest new rising stars were Thanh Ha, Tu Quyen and a singer that had left her home in Australia in 1991 to take up permanent residence in Southern California named Ngoc Hue.

Ngoc Hue

In the Vietnamese community of Australia, Ngoc Hue had already established a name for herself as a singer.  Like Cong Thanh & Lynn, the popular  Australian/ Vietnamese married couple and singing duo prior to resettling here in the United States, Ngoc Hue had dreams of furthering her career as an overseas Vietnamese singer in the United States and was well aware of how much of a gamble that was at stake upon making the decision to leave the comforts of Australia's smaller, close-knit Vietnamese community and the challenges of having to start all over in a land faraway.  With a total population that barely exceeds 150,000, the Vietnamese community of Australia is one of the most affluent and thriving communities of overseas Vietnamese in the entire world.  The largest concentration of Vietnamese-Australians lies within the metropolitan area of Sydney also known as Little Saigon.  It is in this community that houses a small yet vibrant Vietnamese entertainment industry where for many years, Ngoc Hue had enjoyed a singing career that consisted of steady work and a status of being one of its key players.  An integral part of the Vietnamese community of Australia's performance arts industry included concert events that featured headlining overseas Vietnamese performers from other regions of the world, primarily the United States and France.  At these shows, Ngoc Hue would share the stage with these headliners who had traveled to Australia from faraway.  She would often spark the attention of some of the biggest names among Vietnamese entertainers that would tour in Australia.  It was only a matter of time that Ngoc Hue would eventually make her way across the Pacific Ocean to Southern California, the region with the world's largest overseas Vietnamese population and considered as the unofficial capital of the Vietnamese entertainment industry.  In 1991, Ngoc Hue's acceptance of an invitation to tour the United States which would ultimately lead to her decision of relocating here permanently came as of no accident, but as part of a long, anticipated dream of hers that was about to come true.

When she first arrived in the United States, Ngoc Hue was already prepped and poised for stardom.  I remember then as a fan of Vietnamese entertainment how she had been welcomed in a manner quite similar to that of a proper Hollywood welcome, complete with the rolling out of the red carpet upon her arrival.  Ngoc Hue was blessed with physical beauty, a trademark that is often regarded with equal if not greater weight than one's singing ability in the Vietnamese entertainment industry. Therefor, her pictures were soon enough blasted everywhere from magazine covers to flyers to even calendars.  Almost immediately after her arrival, she could be seen doing interviews on television to promote her debut studio album.  This would be followed with appearances on video, as she would grace the Paris By Night stage along with making other appearances for Nhat Ha Productions.  It was evident that Ngoc Hue was definitely on her way.  How big of a star she would become could only be determined by the audience along with the choices she would make for her future.

In a business as fickle as show business, no one can predict what lies ahead for the careers of each and every individual artist.  Having been in the business, myself, I have learned that what can transform a performer into a star really all depends on a combination of three key factors.  All 100% of these three key factors, in my opinion, are essential in turning a singer into a star.  Anything short of that just won't do.  Of course, one has to have talent.  That is a given.  And so, I'd say that talent would account for 50% of that formula. The next factor has to do with knowing the right people and having the right connections in order to acquire the proper exposure needed to promote one's self.  Out of the two key factors left, I'd say that would account for 30%.  Promotion is one very crucial aspect in turning a performer into a star.  Think about it, a singer could have the best voice, but if the general audience was never able to hear his or her voice, how could that artist ever get anywhere?   But even with the right amount of exposure and promotion needed, still there are no guarantees that an artist would become a star without the third key factor.  And that would be luck, which would account for 20% to round out the completion of this equation.  I've often wondered what was it that had stood in the way of Ngoc Hue becoming a big star in the ranks of Luu Bich, Y Lan, or even her two peers, Thanh Ha and Tu Quyen.  Ngoc Hue had gotten a head start years before the other two when she first came onto the scene back in 1991.  Surely, she has the talent, as well as the stage presence, and as I had pointed out from the time when she first arrived here from Australia, she also had the connections with the right people to give her the initial exposure and promotion needed in order to boost her career, .  If compared to Thanh Ha, it can be said that Ngoc Hue at first seemed like she had the upper hand given how she is full-blooded Vietnamese versus how Thanh Ha is not only racially mixed but also doesn't look at all Vietnamese, which can definitely be a disadvantage considering how conservative and homogeneous the Vietnamese culture is.  I personally haven't experienced that myself, but it is an undeniable fact that many Eurasians and Amerasians have been targets of unjust discrimination in Vietnamese society.  But I guess in Thanh Ha's case, the fact that she happens to be so beautiful, her being racially mixed with European blood seemed to have worked to her advantage and perhaps proven to be instrumental through her journey to stardom.  In comparison to Tu Quyen, Ngoc Hue also has greater stage presence.  Ngoc Hue's features are much more defined and striking whereas Tu Quyen has more of a passive, wholesome girl-next-door look. Yet by 1994, the year in which both Thanh Ha and Tu Quyen would be formally introduced onto the Vietnamese pop music scene, Thanh Ha first with her debut solo studio album recorded for Diem Xua Productions entitled, Mot Doi Xin Nho Mai (The Power of Love), then Tu Quyen before the end of the year with her debut album backed by Eagle Productions, Nu Cuoi Xa Vang, Ngoc Hue would be outshined by both of these new rising stars.

Perhaps it was the career choices that Ngoc Hue had made that had prevented her from becoming a superstar.  Take for example, when Ngoc Hue had first started out she performed regularly at a nightclub in Orange County called the Can Club, which was also where Thanh Ha and myself had gotten our start.  As Thanh Ha's popularity grew, she moved up to become a regular performer at the Diamond Club in Fullerton, then the Ritz and finally the Majestic Club until her busy touring schedule with out of town gigs became so full that she could no longer commit to any local nightclub as a regular weekly performer.  When I first saw Tu Quyen perform in Orange County was on a night sponsored by Eagle Productions for her held at the Queen Bee nightclub sometime in the fall season of 1994.  A little over a year after that, Tu Quyen would become a contracted regular performer at the Ritz nightclub in the summer of 1996.  After a series of video appearances, just like Thanh Ha, Tu Quyen would also venture off to only touring at out of town gigs, which is far more lucrative than performing regularly at any local Orange County Vietnamese nightclub.  This is often the case with a lot of Vietnamese singers once they become famous.  Ngoc Hue, on the other hand, after releasing album after album and making video appearances on the Paris By Night stage, was still seen performing regularly at the Can Club by 1996.  Although she was able to get bookings to perform for live shows across the United States, as well as abroad in Europe and back in her former residence, Australia, her touring schedule was not anywhere near as booked as some of the other popular Vietnamese singers in demand.  Thanh Ha's rise to fame was as fast as a speeding bullet.  From the moment her solo studio album was released by Diem Xua Productions, she became a hot commodity instantaneously with other Vietnamese music video production companies.  Shortly thereafter, she could be seen on music videos produced by Diem Xua, Truong Thanh, and then ultimately as a contracted exclusive performer of Paris By Night produced by Thuy Nga Productions.  Tu Quyen had become the driving force behind Eagle Productions as her impressive record sales permitted the label to release a series of studio albums for the popular singer, while on video she would finally make her way to Paris By Night after several video appearances for Van Son Entertainment and Tinh Productions.  The fact that she was able to win the hearts of Vietnamese audiences with her signature rendition of a song called, Nu Hong Mong Manh, didn't hurt her career, either.  Long before either Thanh Ha or Tu Quyen had made their way onto the Paris By Night stage, Ngoc Hue had already made her Paris By Night video debut on volume 16 with a solo rendition of Alan Nguyen's Prisoner and in a duet with Don Ho, Hanh Phuc Trong Tim, back in 1992.  After several more times appearing on Paris By Night, Ngoc Hue faded into obscurity.  Her career seemed to have hit the ceiling instantaneously and had allowed her to form her own label, Fame Productions.  But after a series of mediocre albums and various recordings for other labels, it seemed as if Ngoc Hue's career could only at best remain stagnant from then on, and her production label would come to a close before it had even ever gotten itself off the ground.

I had worked alongside Ngoc Hue on several occasions, but never really got to talk that much with her.  Unlike a lot of singers, she seemed a bit more reserved.  During the course of several years since I first met Ngoc Hue, our total interactions were limited to just a casual hello and goodbye each time we were in the same room together.  Although she was always pleasant, I can't say I knew much about her other than our brief greetings we would give to one another.  When it came time for me to produce my album, Ngay Em Di, I had been given the suggestion by others in the singing business that I should feature a song or two recorded by a singer whose name was more established to go along with my recordings in order for to make the album more marketable.  Of course, Ngoc Hue's name had been mentioned as a possible suggestion.  I was quite hesitant to ask her for the simple fact that I really didn't know her all that well.  One of my biggest fears in life has always been rejection.  I'd hate to think of how I would have handled it if Ngoc Hue had turned down my invitation to record a song for my album.  And so, I waited and waited, which ultimately delayed the release of Ngay Em Di.  

The moment would finally come when I would muster up the courage to ask Ngoc Hue.  We were about to perform together at an engagement at the Crystal Palace Casino in Gardena, California. During rehearsals with the band before the show, Ngoc Hue turned to look at me and gave me a compliment on how I sang Crazy, a famous tune written by Willie Nelson and originally recorded by Patsy Cline .  That was the first time we actually had a conversation that lasted longer than "Hello, how are you?" after five years that I had known her.  I thought to myself, I better ask her now since I really don't have another five years to wait to release my next album.  So I did.  Luckily, she accepted.

While I was at the recording studio with Ngoc Hue, that was when she really earned my respect as an artist.  I must say she is definitely a perfectionist.  The recording session for Ngoc Hue with just one song, Pho Xa, took a total of eight hours and countless takes and retakes.  It wasn't because she couldn't get into the song.  As a matter of fact, I felt that she had already nailed it the first time through.  But being the perfectionist that she is, Ngoc Hue had to do it over and over again until her biggest critic, which happens to be none other than herself, was finally satisfied.  And that was just with the primary vocals track which took up a good five hours.  After that came the two tracks for background vocals that she would handle all by herself that took up the remaining three hours.  Now that's impressive.  I remember how Tung Giang who was the recording engineer had grown really tired and sleepy after so many hours of this recording session.  Both Ngoc Hue and I had noticed how his eyes had become so droopy, we suggested that he should take a break.  I was about to fall asleep myself.  But Ngoc Hue really amazed me as she got right back into the sound proof room with the remote control recording device in hand and proceecded to complete the recording of Pho Xa all by herself.  Now that's a trouper.

I couldn't have been happier when I heard the finished product of Ngoc Hue's recording of Pho Xa, written by Le Quoc Thang,  There wasn't a single flaw I could point out with Ngoc Hue's performance of that song.  That was why I had chosen it to be the first song on the Ngay Em Di album.  Ngoc Hue was gracious enough to attend and perform at the CD release event I had put together held at the Majestic during November of 1999.  After that, we worked with each other on a couple of occasions, but never really got as close to where I can say we were actually friends.  I liked her.  But to this day, I can't say I know much about Ngoc Hue.

It has been at least six years since I've heard anything about Ngoc Hue, and even longer since the last time I spoke to her.  I've asked around and nobody seems to know her whereabouts.  Recently I found her on Facebook, but the last time there had been any activity on her account was back in 2010.  I came up with the same result searching her name on Youtube.com where the latest posting of Ngoc Hue was of a live performance she had done back in her old hometown of Sydney, Australia in 2010. From what I saw, she looked pretty much the same.  Perhaps a little older, but still beautiful as ever.  I hope everything is okay in her life.  Too often, I've had reason to worry whenever any of my colleagues in the singing business had faded into obscurity.  I certainly hope this is not the case with Ngoc Hue.  If anyone out there knows, please notify me with either a comment or private message.  I'm sure that many of her fans are equally concerned of her whereabouts and hope that she's doing okay.

Link(s):

Ngoc Hue - Pho Xa on YouTube

Update:  Ngoc Hue has been found!  Sometime in the afternoon yesterday while surfing the net, I stumbled across a thread on the MauTam.net forum which featured Ngoc Hue's latest interview.  She's back in town.  For a more detailed synopsis of the interview, click on the following link to read my article I had posted here on ThienPhu-VietSinger.BlogSpot.com.
(April 2, 2015)

Link(s):
                                                                                       
Update on Ngoc Hue:  She's Been Found!

Anh Tu.... Je Pense à Lui

It's hard to believe but it has been more than 10 years since Anh Tu's passing.  I miss him dearly and from time to time feel that his spirit is still here with us on earth.  Of course, I'm fully aware that there is no scientific proof to back up what I feel and intellectually, this could be due to the fact that part of me refuses to let go and accept what is reality. There have been times where I've sensed his spirit so strongly beside me,  I can almost say that I've never felt as sure about anything else.

Anh Tu was one of those people that can leave a lasting impression with just about anyone upon the very first meeting with him.  He was that charismatic.  Prior to my first meeting with Anh Tu, of course, I had already known of him through his recordings and several live concert shows I had attended that where he and his sister, Khanh Ha, along with the rest of their family band members known as the Uptight had headlined.  I have always been a huge fan of both his sister, Khanh Ha, and older brother, Tuan Ngoc.  To this day, they are still among my all time favorite Vietnamese singers.  Although I had enjoyed some of the recordings Anh Tu had done on several cassettes produced by Khanh Ha Productions that I had owned, I really didn't pay that much attention to him as a vocalist, as I had done with his siblings that were more famous.  Although it was undeniable that all 7 members of this family of singers had been blessed with musical genes and tremendous talent, the success that both Tuan Ngoc and Khanh Ha had achieved being deemed as the top male and top female vocalists, respectively, of Vietnamese pop music for many years along with the popularity Luu Bich, the youngest sibling, later on overshadowed Anh Tu as a performer.  Anh Tu's impeccable ability to harmonize with perfect pitch had been taken notice of by his family from early on which is why he had been chosen to sing background vocals for the Uptight, while his other siblings sang lead.  Being in the background, he always struck me as being the shy, timid member of the family.  However, Anh Tu's talents were not overlooked completely as he, too, was able to achieve longevity as a successful singer and acquired a cult following of loyal fans that remained throughout his entire career.

When I think about how Anh Tu and I first met, our friendship almost never happened.  It was on a night at the Can club here in Orange County, Southern California.  The year was 1996.  At any of the Vietnamese nightclubs that I had worked at, every now and then some special event would take place sponsored by some organization.  On this particular night, the show was sponsored by an organization known as Club O'Noodles, an innovative group of young Vietnamese actors that had achieved notoriety for their plays that focused on issues of the day such as women's rights and gay rights.  I was singing over at the Queen Bee in Stanton, California.  It was a slow night, so I was able to go home early along with some of the other singers.  I had heard about this event over at the Can club, and since it was only midnight, I figured why not drop by and relax for a bit before I would head on home.  Right when I got to the Can club, I ran into some friends, singers Hoang Liem and Jenny Trang when I went to go greet the owner, singer Le Uyen who also goes by the name, Wendy.  As a singer, wherever you go whether it's the club where you work or not, people will ask you to come up on stage to sing a song or two.  Wendy kept on insisting I go on stage to sing a song.  As she says, and I'm sure she says this with every singer who drops by her club, "Please sing me a song.  I haven't heard you sing in so long."  Before I had the chance to even agree to singing a song that night, I was hit with the instructions from Wendy that after Hoang Liem went on stage, he would introduce my name, and after I'm finished with my song, I was supposed to introduce Jenny Trang.  Hoang Liem sang his song and introduced me on stage.  And after I was done singing Aline, which was the song that I took with me everywhere I went during that time.  And as soon as I was done, I did just what Wendy had instructed me to do, which was introduce Jenny Trang.  As the crowd applauded I saw Jenny walk up toward the stage and prepared to hand the microphone over to her.  All of the sudden, Anh Tu appeared out of nowhere, took the microphone from my hand and introduced another singer on stage.  I was in total shock.  I thought to myself, "What a jerk!  Who does he think he is to snatch away the microphone from my hand?  And how dare he embarrass Jenny Trang by introducing someone else on stage like that?" 

I was just livid.  I walked Jenny back to the bar counter.  As I was fuming, I told Wendy to get me another shot of Tequila.  And then another.  And another.  I think I called Anh Tu every name in the book as I vowed to Wendy that he should steer clear away from me or else.  As far as I was concerned, Anh Tu was dead meat.  I had never been so humiliated.  Wendy tried her best to calm me down.  Just as I was about to leave, Wendy persuaded me to stay a little longer to listen to Jenny sing.  Shortly thereafter, Anh Tu went on stage and reintroduced Jenny along with an apology for the mix up.  The sincerity in his voice was so convincing that Jenny readily agreed to walk back onto the stage.  It made things calm down a bit.  But I was still miffed.  I thought to myself, "Well, Anh Tu cleared things up with Jenny.  But what about me?"

A couple weeks went by before I would see Anh Tu again.  I was still mad.  But then on one Friday night, two weeks from that disastrous previous meeting with Anh Tu, my friend, Christopher, convinced me to swing by and hang out at the Can club.  When I walked in, I saw that the club was rather empty.  Christopher quickly saw Anh Tu sitting at the table with other singers and suggested that we go over to say hi.  I told him that I'd rather not and proceeded to the bar counter to talk with Wendy.  As I drank and talked with Wendy, I noticed Anh Tu passing by me a few times.  Christopher kept coming back and forth from Anh Tu's table to the bar counter to tell me that Anh Tu really wanted to talk to me.  I responded by saying, "Well, tell him to come over to me.  Why should I come to him?"  A few minutes later, the situation between myself and Anh Tu only got worse when he got on stage and sang "Aline".  I thought to myself, "Oh, that does it!  How dare he sing my song?  After what happened a few weeks ago, I'm really going to give it to him." 

When he got down from the stage, Anh Tu walked over to the bar counter where I sat.  He ordered two beers and brought them over to me.  He handed one to me and said, "You must be Thien Phu."  Just when I was about ready to really give it to him, Anh Tu flashed his dazzling smile at me and that was it.  He went on to explain how he didn't know that I had introduced Jenny Trang on stage that night, given how crowded and noisy it was at the Can club that night, and that he had been instructed to introduce another singer by the band since there was no emcee.  From that moment on, we became the best of friends.

Anh Tu and Thien Phu.

There have been three people that have been most influential throughout my career as a singer; Ngoc Lan, Julie Quang and of course, Anh Tu.  Both Ngoc Lan and Julie had been my idols.  Anh Tu, on the other hand, I had met as a colleague at first.  But the more I got to know him, the more I realized there is just no one like him.  Anh Tu had a way of making everyone around him feel comfortable and laughing constantly with his jokes.  I remember once he made me laugh so uncontrollably right before I got on stage to do a song, I couldn't stop laughing and had to walk off the stage during the middle of the song.  That was Anh Tu.

Throughout the course of our friendship, Anh Tu showed me his kindness and generosity by always giving me the best advice both in the music business and in life.  When it was time for me to record my debut album, Tiec Nho, Anh Tu was one of the driving forces behind it.  He said, "You must put yourself out there.  How the hell will anyone ever hear of Thien Phu unless you do an album?"  That got me to thinking.  That is why I'm forever grateful to him.  To me, he was more like family.  He was always there for me whenever I needed him every minute of the day.  There never was any rivalry what so ever between Anh Tu and myself.  On one particular weekend, coincidentally Anh Tu and I both had separate bookings to perform in Seattle.  Anh Tu and his sister, Khanh Ha, were headlining at some hotel in Seattle that weekend, while I was singing at the Palace nightclub.  Just to show how wonderful he was, right before the trip Anh Tu and I went shopping for clothes and he picked out the outfit for me to wear.  On the night of that performance, when I got back to the hotel, Anh Tu telephoned me to ask if everything went alright with my performance and to make sure that I wore the outfit he had selected.  That just goes to show just how wonderful and caring of a person Anh Tu was. 

The day Anh Tu died was probably one of the worst days of my life.  I remember receiving a telephone call from Viet Dzung with the startling news.  I dropped everything and rushed over to UCI Medical Center to be there with him.  I didn't want to believe what I had just heard.  After I parked my car, I saw Tuan Ngoc and his wife, Thai Thao, exiting the hospital with his father, Mr. Lu Lien.  I looked at Tuan Ngoc and asked, "How is he?"  I'll never forget the look in his eyes when he said, "I'm sorry, Phu.  He's gone!"  I couldn't help but burst into tears and put my arms around him.  I ran into the hospital to Anh Tu's room hoping what they just told me was a lie.  But it wasn't.  He was indeed gone. 

Part of me to this day still can't believe that Anh Tu has died.  I still hear his voice momentarily.  I feel his spirit.  In my heart, Anh Tu has never left us and is always surrounding me everywhere I go.  I truly miss him.