My Friendship with Thanh Ha
Thanh Ha is perhaps the most successful Amerasian singer out there. I remember the first time I met this beautiful girl was in 1994. At the time she was singing at a club called the Can Club in Garden Grove. I was really surprised to see this blonde girl sing in Vietnamese. To me, she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer. The funny thing was neither one of us knew we were Vietnamese upon meeting one another. I remember the song she sang that night was "Autumn Leaves". I came up and did a French song called, "Adieu, Sois Hereuse". We talked for a bit and didn't really become close friends until years later. I guess you can say that right then and there I knew she was going to make it big.
It wasn't until 2008, when we ran into each other again at a restaurant in Newport Beach, Kitayama. I was working as a bartender there at the time. She walked in with a group of friends and we instantly recognized each other. I was about fifty pounds overweight then. She looked at me and said, "Thien Phu?" I said, "Yes, I know I got fat." She said, "No, you look great." We exchanged phone numbers and for a while, we were rather close friends. Everywhere we went together, people would think we were brother and sister. Thanh Ha is actually three years older than myself. She's part-German. I'm part-Swedish. For some reason, people would often ask if I was her older brother. Well, maybe that has to do with the fact that she looked younger than I did when I was experiencing the weight gain. But things have changed since then. Although she still looks great, I think since I've lost the weight, I don't look as old anymore.
During the course of our friendship, I must say something about Thanh Ha. And that is, she's definitely a professional. She's pretty much a no-nonsense kind of girl. She says it like it is. Whenever she hear me sing on stage, she'd tell me what were my faults and if I did well, she'd say so. Never is she the type that would sugar coat anything. I like that about her. Thanh Ha is also very family-oriented. One thing she has always told me, whenever I've gone through bad times is, "Think about your mom first, before you decide anything."
Unfortunately, we don't keep in contact that much these days. After we had some misunderstanding after a show she had invited me to in San Jose, our friendship sort of drifted. Since then, we've only seen each other again once. We've talked on the telephone, of course. And I still consider her as a close friend. She will always be like a sister to me, regardless. One thing I must appreciate about our friendship is that regardless of whatever happened, I have never heard her say one bad thing about me and the same vice-versa. Afterall, we are adults. That's really all I can say about Thanh Ha. I love her very much and I'm glad to see that she's still very active in the singing business. I do know that someday we'll be friends again.
Thanh Ha Link(s):
Thanh Ha on Facebook
Thanh Ha is perhaps the most successful Amerasian singer out there. I remember the first time I met this beautiful girl was in 1994. At the time she was singing at a club called the Can Club in Garden Grove. I was really surprised to see this blonde girl sing in Vietnamese. To me, she looked like Michelle Pfeiffer. The funny thing was neither one of us knew we were Vietnamese upon meeting one another. I remember the song she sang that night was "Autumn Leaves". I came up and did a French song called, "Adieu, Sois Hereuse". We talked for a bit and didn't really become close friends until years later. I guess you can say that right then and there I knew she was going to make it big. It wasn't until 2008, when we ran into each other again at a restaurant in Newport Beach, Kitayama. I was working as a bartender there at the time. She walked in with a group of friends and we instantly recognized each other. I was about fifty pounds overweight then. She looked at me and said, "Thien Phu?" I said, "Yes, I know I got fat." She said, "No, you look great." We exchanged phone numbers and for a while, we were rather close friends. Everywhere we went together, people would think we were brother and sister. Thanh Ha is actually three years older than myself. She's part-German. I'm part-Swedish. For some reason, people would often ask if I was her older brother. Well, maybe that has to do with the fact that she looked younger than I did when I was experiencing the weight gain. But things have changed since then. Although she still looks great, I think since I've lost the weight, I don't look as old anymore.
During the course of our friendship, I must say something about Thanh Ha. And that is, she's definitely a professional. She's pretty much a no-nonsense kind of girl. She says it like it is. Whenever she hear me sing on stage, she'd tell me what were my faults and if I did well, she'd say so. Never is she the type that would sugar coat anything. I like that about her. Thanh Ha is also very family-oriented. One thing she has always told me, whenever I've gone through bad times is, "Think about your mom first, before you decide anything."
Unfortunately, we don't keep in contact that much these days. After we had some misunderstanding after a show she had invited me to in San Jose, our friendship sort of drifted. Since then, we've only seen each other again once. We've talked on the telephone, of course. And I still consider her as a close friend. She will always be like a sister to me, regardless. One thing I must appreciate about our friendship is that regardless of whatever happened, I have never heard her say one bad thing about me and the same vice-versa. Afterall, we are adults. That's really all I can say about Thanh Ha. I love her very much and I'm glad to see that she's still very active in the singing business. I do know that someday we'll be friends again.
Thanh Ha Link(s):
Thanh Ha on Facebook
