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.  

My Teacher Known as the Timeless Voice

I am very proud to say that I had once been a student of the legendary Vietnamese singer, Thai Thanh.  I am tremendously indebted to her for all that she had taught me.  It wasn't so much with vocal techniques, but what she had taught me was extremely crucial in becoming a Vietnamese singer.  She taught me how to appreciate the beauty in Vietnamese music and also how to sing in Vietnamese correctly.

During the year of 1994, I had enrolled in Thai Thanh's vocals class in Westminster, California.  Each week that I attended her class, I learned something new.  She was an amazing teacher to me.  It really came of no surprise to me since I had always known of what a great legendary Vietnamese songstress she was.  But what I really appreciated about her as my teacher was her patience, her insistence on being a perfectionist and her generosity in sharing with me some of her wisdom.  I guess you can say that she wasn't really a voice teacher, but more of a voice coach.  Thai Thanh's classes were on a one-on-one basis, where she coached her students and assisted them in finding their way in fine tuning their own styles of singing.  That was something that singers who were just starting out such as myself back then really needed.

One of my biggest challenges when I first began to sing in Vietnamese was pronunciation.  Although I was able to speak Vietnamese like a native speaker, of course, I had difficulties when making the transition from speaking to singing.  Since I come from a family that speaks in a Southern Vietnamese dialect, it took me quite a bit of time and practice to learn how to sing in the Northern dialect.  And of course, what better teacher could I have asked for but Thai Thanh, herself, to help me with learning how to sing in the Northern Vietnamese dialect correctly?  In many of my sessions with Thai Thanh were focused on just that, pronunciation, rather than vocals.  And I couldn't be more grateful.  I started to even realize just how even more valuable her lessons were when I started to record professionally in Vietnamese.  I don't think I could have ever gone through with it if I hadn't had Thai Thanh as my teacher.

Besides my fondness of Thai Thanh for having been my teacher at one time, I'm also an admirer of her as a legendary Vietnamese singer.  In Vietnamese popular music, she has been hailed as the Timeless Voice, Tieng Hat Vuot Thoi Gian.  And I must say, out of all the Vietnamese singers throughout the history of Vietnamese popular music, Thai Thanh definitely is deserving of such a title.

Facebook Dilemma

Hi there, friends!  These past several days, I've been trying my best to catch up with a schedule that I had set up for myself to manage all five of my blogsites that are currently running and hosted by Blogger.  Just by glancing at the schedule at times, the amount of work with so many articles I had assigned for myself to write seems quite overwhelming.  But I can't really complain or place the blame on anyone but myself.  Afterall, it was I who had created this schedule.  I am the culprit, as well as the willing, participating victim.

On Tuesday, my schedule would come across a screeching halt, as I was forced to be held back from posting my list of articles I had planned for my blogsites when I came across a disturbing dilemma with my Facebook account.  I first learned of this dilemma sometime early in the morning that day.  As I would usually do with all my other articles once posted on any of my websites, I would read them over and then share them on my accounts and pages set up on other social media network websites such as Pinterest, Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook.  After posting an article I had just written on Amerasian/ Eurasian Forum about Hollywood actress Olivia Munn, I then realized that I had been blocked from such activities on Facebook like posting, sharing and sending private messages due to some inappropriate activities that had recently taken place on my account.  Right then, I knew that my account had been hacked.  It had been about a two or three days since I had last logged onto my Facebook account, so really, how could any inappropriate activities have taken place?

It took a while for me to finally get into my Facebook account, since this time whoever that had hacked my account really went to extremes to take over my identity and and seal me off from ever accessing my account on Facebook again. This has happened before, but never quite as frustrating as this time around.  Everything had been changed and modified with my personal information on Facebook except my name, it seemed.  Where I lived was now in Hanoi, Vietnam, where I worked was for some organization based out of Hanoi, my password, my email address, just about everything I had originally entered as my personal information had been changed which made it nearly impossible for Facebook to contact me given how the two email addresses that I have been using for years had been wiped out.  Even the language was changed from English to Vietnamese on my Facebook account.  That probably was what presented my biggest obstacle when trying to regain access.  English is my primary language and what I consider to be my native language as well, despite how it technically isn't my first language.  I had learned both Vietnamese and French years before I began speaking English, and even though I am still able to speak these two languages today, in comparison to my level of command in the English language I can only say that I'm now on a communicative level of proficiency in Vietnamese and French, whereas English would be by far the language I'm most comfortable with.   One can only imagine just how challenging it was for me to follow the step by step instructions all in Vietnamese in order to regain access on Facebook, as I didn't even know what the Vietnamese term for the word "password" is.  It took me hours before I was finally granted access back into my Facebook account.  But even then, my problems on Facebook with this hacker were far from over.  I thought that once I was able to reset successfully a new password that my Facebook account would be secured and the hacker would then be blocked from any further activities.  But that wasn't the case.  Each of the three times I would change my password, within seconds I'd see more and more private messages and/ or postings sent out by this hacker to my list of friends on Facebook that contained pornographic material and the most offensive language.  What made it even worse was that Facebook still had my account frozen.  I was blocked from using any such features like posting, sharing and even commenting.  All I could do was just watch how this monster that had hacked my account continue with his quest to sabotage my image, as my Facebook friends would send me messages after messages expressing their disgust and outrage with me.  Most of them were shocked thinking just how could I dare send them such filthy messsages. Thank goodness, there were a few that knew better and acknowledged how they knew that my account must have been hacked.  That was really encouraging.  But I couldn't even reply to those few friends with a simple thank you.  Most of my other Facebook friends weren't as understanding and had sent me rather feisty messages expressing to me his or her anger.  Some even notified me that I would be deleted on his or her list of Facebook friends because of this matter.  I must have lost about 50 or so Facebook friends that day.  The whole experience was really a complete nightmare.

You're probably thinking, so how would this affect my postings on Blogger?  Well, Facebook, just like Blogger, is a social media network website.  Like a lot of bloggers, all of my accounts on such social media network websites are linked together.  When something goes wrong with one of them, the rest are affected.  Even though it is not one of those website where I am able to make money from directly, as I do on YouTube, Tumblr, HubPages, and now with Blogger since some of my blogsites have recently been monetized, what Facebook does for my articles that I post on my blogsites hosted by Blogger is that it serves as a major traffic source.  In addition to my personal account that has a total of 5,000 friends, I also have created three Facebook pages that are directly linked to my blogsites hosted by Blogger, which means whenever I post an article, by sharing them on Facebook, these articles are given an exposure to a potential audience of roughly 10,000.  For a newbie blogger such as myself, that's rather a huge chunk taken away from my current total viewership potential.  With that said, I'm sure, one can understand just how frustrating it was not to be able to share any of articles posted on my blogsites.  I mean, really, what good would it be to even publish these articles if nobody is going to read them?  That's just like if a singer had to perform on stage to an empty audience.

During these past several days, without the ability of sharing any articles on Facebook, rather than posting them on my blogsites I have worked on writing them without the usage of my computer.  I've since compled writing about a dozen of these rough drafts.  All I have to do now is post them.  Now that everything has been cleared up with my Facebook account and I've been granted with full access to post and share articles, I'll be typing them up and posting them on my blogsites for everyone to read soon.  My next three upcoming articles to be published on ThienPhuViet-Singer.Blogspot.com are entitled as How I Lost 100 Pounds, What's Next? and My Teacher Known as the Timeless Voice, which is an article I have written in honor of my voice teacher, the legendary Thai Thanh.  These should be posted soon, so check them out.  I think you'll find these articles to be rather enjoyable to read.  As for my activities on my other blogsites, on NgocLanRemembered.BlogSpot.com look forward to reading the next scheduled posting which will be entitled as Did You Know Ngoc Lan Could Also Sing in Chinese?  On VietCeleb.Blogspot.com, the next featured Viet celebrities with full bios and tributes to be posted are as follows:  La Thoai Tan, Tang Thanh Ha, Vu Linh, Elvis Phuong, Hong Nhung, Manh Quynh, My Tam, Bebe Hong Suong, Cuong Vu, Minh Tuyet, Duc Huy, Thanh Tuyen, Shayla and Leyna Nguyen.  This site has just gone off.  Thanks, by the way, to everyone for your viewership on VietCeleb.  On ClubLai.BlogSpot.com, check out my tributes to singers Marie Louise, Van Anh and Tuan Kiet.  And last but not least, how could I leave out my blogsite, MrKoolKat.BlogSpot.com?  I'll be posting several adorable photos of my feisty mother cat, Sheba.  Trust me, you'll end up loving her as much as I do.  

A Loving Tribute to Viet Dzung

Viet Dzung (1958-2013)

It seemed like everytime someone close to me had passed away, Viet Dzung was the first person to notify me.  During the summer of 1998, while I was in Vietnam vacationing with Julie Quang and his wife, Bébé Hoang Anh, I received a telegram one morning that Michelle Diem My had just been killed in a fire.  Almost three years later, while I was at his radio station, Radio Bolsa, in Westminster, California, just visiting, he tells me out of nowhere, "Hey, did you hear Ngoc Lan just passed away?"  And then on November of 2003, on one terrifying morning, I received a phone call from Viet Dzung with the news that Anh Tu had just died.  But during the Christmas season of 2013, nobody called to inform me that Viet Dzung had just passed away.

Needless to say, I was devastated when I finally heard the news of his passing.  How I found out was through a posting on one of my friend's Facebook wall.  I had learned of his failing health years ago, but I never wanted to believe that he would possibly face his last days anytime soon.  Viet Dzung had always been a constant in my life.  He was like an older brother, one who full of wisdom and always had the best advice to give.  Because I had looked up to him so highly, my image of Viet Dzung had always been of someone who was invincible.  It is rather hard for me to really grasp what is reality, and that is, he is no longer with us.

My friendship with Viet Dzung began sometime in 1997.  I had been introduced to him by Julie Quang, who was also very close to him and his wife, Bébé.  For many years, we were like a family.  These three very special individuals had become the adoptive older brother and sisters that I never had.  I can't say that I was ever friends with Viet Dzung, because he was more like my older brother, instead of a buddy or pal.  I had the deepest respect for him.  He was a tremendous, multi-talented individual. I have yet to meet anyone else that could match his drive or ambition.  Just spending time with him on any given day, I was amazed at his remarkable work ethics and tenacious will to constantly succeed.

I am forever indebted to Viet Dzung his tremendous generosity throughout our friendship of many years.  I can honestly say, there's just no one like him.  Viet Dzung was definitely one of a kind and a true gem to the Vietnamese American community.  I miss him very much.  

Happy Lunar New Year!

It is finally here, my friends.  Happy Lunar New Year!  This is the year of the horse.  In this lunar new year, I wish for everyone happiness, good health and world peace.

Like I had already done this past January 1st, with the new year here I've made quite a few resolutions as well as plans for my career and life.  I have many exciting projects planned for this new year.  To list them out right now would be rather frivolous, in my opinion.  Instead, I'd just like to say to all my fans and friends out there to just sit tight and prepare for what Thien Phu is about to come up with in the very near future.  These last couple of years in my life have been rather challenging, to say with the least.  Like the old cliché, "Out with the old and in with the new", for this new year, I'd like to modify that phrase a bit for my new motto to, "Out with the bad and in with the phenomenal".  I really feel strongly in my heart that I'm done with all that bad stuff I've had to go through these past couple of years, and that goodness is coming really soon.  Let's all try our hardest to make this year a phenomenal year.  I know I'll be trying my very best to do so.  

Thien Phu on My Favorite Vietnamese Composers

Pham Duy - the most prolific composer
 of Vietnamese popular music

Being a Vietnamese singer, I'm often asked who are my favorite songwriters and composers.  Well, I have to say that I can't deny the talents of Pham Duy and Trinh Cong Son.  Afterall, they are the legends among Vietnamese songwriters.  I especially enjoy listening to the compositions of these two whenever sung by such legendary singers like Julie Quang, Khanh Ly, Le Thu, Duy Quang, Thai Hien and Cam Van.  But for me, personally, I've hardly ever sung any songs written by these two.  Quynh Huong was one of the few songs I've ever sung on stage written by Trinh Cong Son.  I remember one time while I was performing on a show together with Y Lan, since it was set in a ballroom dancing atmostphere I had started to run out of songs to perform in the cha cha tempo and Quynh Huong was the only song left that I could think of.  I was quite hesitant of singing it that night, since I was fully aware of how Y Lan had made this song so famous with her fabulous interpretation back in the 1990s.  But what was I to do?  Just to show you what a great sport she is, when it was my turn to get up on stage and sing during the Da Vu, the Vietnamese term for ballroom dancing, segment of the show, she smiled at me and said to go ahead and sing it.  I still didn't.  I went ahead and decided on the last minute to do Besame Mucho in French, even though I hadn't memorized all of the lyrics yet.  But I improvised, and thank goodness, the audience didn't really take notice.  Anyway, back to Trinh Cong Son, I've been an obsessed fan of his music especially with songs like Tinh Nho, Nhu Canh Vac Bay and Diem Xua, just to name a few.  I particularly  love Trinh Cong Son's music whenever sung by Khanh Ly.  Mua Thu Chet is my favorite Pham Duy penned song, and in my book, that song must be sung by none other than Julie Quang, of course.

Duc Huy - Vietnamese Songwriter
 and Singer

I've sung a lot of songs written by Duc Huy.  Of course, he is one of my favorite composers, as well.  His music appeals to a younger generation.  When I first started out singing, I was then considered a young singer.  Of Duc Huy's songs, I've always loved Tieng Mua Dem, Nguoi Tinh Tram Nam, Trai Tim Nguc Tu, Duong Xa Uot Mua and Nhu Da Dau Yeu.  

One other Vietnamese composer I've always admired is Ngo Thuy Mien.  His music is like no other's.  I'd have to say the two songs I've liked the most from Ngo Thuy Mien are Mua Thu Cho Em and Tu Giong Hat Em, both of which have been recorded by another one of my idols, Khanh Ha.  In my opinion, her renditions of these two songs were the best.

Van Phung - composer of songs such as Tinh,
 Toi Di Giua Hoang Hon and Noi Buon

But the composer that has been my constant most favorite in Vietnamese popular music has always been Van Phung.  I've loved all of his songs from Tinh, Noi Buon, Chan Nan, Suoi Toc to Toi Di Giua Hoang Hon.  I had the pleasure of singing one of his songs while he was in the audience many years ago while in Washington, D.C.  Can you guess which song it was?  Yeu va Mo was the name of that song I had the utmost pleasure of serenading Mr. Van Phung and his lovely wife, Chau Ha.  To meet him and his lovely wife was just one of the biggest thrills in my singing career.  Oh, by the way, there is one very important individual I should not forget to mention pertaining to this particular Van Phung penned tune that I have included in my repertoire song list at my live performances all these years.  And that is, the legendary Thai Thanh, whom I deeply admire and in fact had been my voice teacher during my beginning as a Vietnamese singer.  It was she who had taught me this song.  I guess I should also give Thai Thanh more credit for having introduced me to and helped me appreciate the beautiful music of Van Phung, one of the most talented composers of Vietnamese popular music ever.  

A Sweet Girl Named Kha Tu

I've been quite fortunate to have befriended quite a few good people in my life.  One of those people has been a good friend of mine who is also in the music business, a singer by the name of Kha Tu.

Our friendship began during a trip to Dallas, Texas in the winter of 1997.  I was there to do a one night performance on New Year's Eve at a club called the Queen Bee with fellow singers, Manh Hung and Diamond Hong Ngoc.  When I arrived, I saw posters pinned all around the Vietnamese community, and especially at the Queen Bee nightclub, of an upcoming show that would take place the night after my performance and would feature a cai luong play, Thuy Kieu Gia Tu Thanh Lau, starring Kha Tu, Ky Anh and Huong Huyen, along with a special appearance of Phuong Hung, Elvis Phuong's son.  Since our flight back to California wasn't until January 2nd, Manh Hung and I thought, why not attend the show?  I had met Kha Tu once or twice before, and Ky Anh and I had been friends for quite some time.

The day after my performance at the Queen Bee, Kha Tu and her entourage flew into Dallas.  I was really happy to see Ky Anh, since it had been a while since the last time we had seen each other back in California.  But what I didn't expect was the instant connection I would make with Kha Tu and Phuong Hung.  We became the best of friends immediately.  It turns out the owner of the Queen Bee, Loc, was also Kha Tu's uncle.  Loc had asked if I could cook lunch for everyone.  After he drove me to the supermarket, I did just that.  One of the things I love to do besides singing is cooking.  According to Manh Hung, I cook the best steak in the whole world.  Everyone loved my steaks prepared with red wine, worcestershire sauce, mushrooms and black pepper.  It was during lunch that Kha Tu kindly asked me if I could attend her show and perform a song or two.  The way she asked me was so sweet, I just couldn't say no.

I had to portray the role of a whorehouse madam...

On the night of Kha Tu's show, unfortunately, Dallas was hit by a terrible storm.  The bad weather would be the reason for the low attendance.  I felt bad for Kha Tu.  From what I saw, she had made a great deal of effort to put on a great show.  But because of the horrendous weather, less than 100 people showed up to see the show.  However, those that were in the audience that night all stayed to the very end and were extremely receptive to Kha Tu's performance.  The next day, Ky Anh and Huong Huyen had to board their flights back to California.  Loc, the owner of Queen Bee, then suggested to Kha Tu that she should stay until the weekend and do a reprisal performance on Saturday night to hopefully recover some of the financial loss from the low attendance of the previous night's performance.  The only problem was that two of her cast members for the play Thuy Kieu Gia Tu Thanh Lau, Ky Anh, who played the role of Thuc Sinh, and Huong Huyen, who played the role of Tu Ba, had already flown back to California.  That was when Manh Hung and I stepped in.  Manh Hung would play the role of Thuc Sinh.  And, you guessed it, I took on the role of Tu Ba, the brothel owner.  To put it more accurately, I had to portray the role of a whorehouse madam.... You read it right.  Not pimp, but indeed, MADAM.

In one night, both Manh Hung and I had to learn the lines to Thuy Kieu Gia Tu Thanh Lau.  I had never acted in cai luong before.  But with Kha Tu's encouragement and coaching, I managed to pull it off.  The next night, which was Saturday, Kha Tu, Manh Hung and I put on a reprisal performance of Thuy Kieu Gia Tu Thanh Lau to a packed house at the Queen Bee.  I couldn't believe it, but my portrayal of Tu Ba turned out to be quite a hit.  Kha Tu was so sweet, as she thanked me repeatedly.  I was just happy to see that we were able to perform in front of a packed house that Saturday.

After our performance on Saturday night, the storm wouldn't let up in Dallas.  Kha Tu, Phuong Hung, Manh Hung and I were all stuck in Dallas for a total of 18 days.  During the 18 days, we all became really close.  We had to.  We were stuck there the whole time in a very small house.  When we got back to California, the friendship that had developed between the four of us grew even stronger.  Kha Tu had introduced me to Bien Tinh Productions, who would produce and release my debut album, Tiec Nho.  In the summer of 1998, I had put together a CD release event show held at the Majestic.  Kha Tu, Manh Hung and Phuong Hung all pitched in with a great deal of effort each in helping me  to put this show together and making it a success.  I'll never forget how gracious Kha Tu was for helping out as the mistress of ceremonies alongside Quoc Thai on that night.  It seemed like I could always count on Kha Tu and Phuong Hung for anything.  At times I wondered, where had these two been all my life?

As the years went by, Kha Tu and Phuong Hung had both relocated outside of Southern California.  Phuong Hung moved back to Houston.  And Kha Tu went to live with her parents in San Jose.  As for Manh Hung, last I heard he is now living somewhere in Vietnam.  It's been years since I've heard from him.

Kha Tu, Thien Phu and Julie Quang

Sometime in 2012, when I performed in Houston at Maxim's, I was able to reunite with Phuong Hung.  Right after that, out of the blue, I heard from Kha Tu when she contacted me through Facebook.  She had introduced me to Uy Long, the owner of Viet Star Productions, and arranged for me to be a part of a live show taping in Seattle.  I don't know what I've done to deserve such a generous friend like Kha Tu.  When we met up in Seattle, I was so glad to see her.  She looked the same after all these years.  Kha Tu is as pretty as ever.  I only wished she still lived here in Orange County. We've had such good times together as pals.  Kha Tu, in my book, is simply just the best.