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World's Oldest Living Man Turns 113 Today

Tomoji Tanabe of Japan was born on September 18, 1895. His 113th birthday was celebrated with gifts from the town's mayor. He received flowers and $1000 which is annually given to the town's oldest resident. When ask about his diet, he said he eats a lot and eats regular meals. He drinks milk in the afternoon and abstained from alcohol. It was said that his favorite food is fried shrimp but refrained from eating fried foods because he wanted to live longer.

today

Today

Our Family History

Ever since I can remember, whenever people heard of my last name they would ask me if I'm Japanese. And it will be followed by my confused answer, "Uhmnn... Malayo na pong ninuno (distant ancestors?)", when in truth I really have no idea. So one day I asked my dad about it and he told me this interesting story.

During 19th century Hispanic Period in the Philippines, there was a Filipino writer we only know by his surname, Donada. He is from Pasay City; any relation with Donada Street there still needs to be verified. Anyway, he was one of those writers who are against the Spanish colonizers and was exiled to Japan because of this. During his exile, he wrote opposing the maltreatment of exiles in Japan and he was sentenced to death by beheading. End of story. Hahaha just kidding. Before sunrise (the time he was schedule to be beheaded), he was able to escape and he went into hiding in a small town in Japan. There he met a girl we only know by her surname, Tanabe (ta da! that's my malayong ninuno hehe). Then nagkamabutihan sila (translation please). Their relationship blossomed and they got married. Because Donada is still wanted by the Japanese government, they registered using the girl's surname, Tanabe, so he can't be traced. They were blessed with only one offspring, a boy. The name of that boy is Alexandro Tanabe. (to be continued..)

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Christopher A. Tanabe @ 53 (My Dad's Birthday)

Today is my dad's birthday :)

Rainbow Cake




Chicken

Sopas




Drinks

Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe is a famous Japanese actor. The first time I saw/heard of him was when he was in the movie The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise last 2003. He played Katsumoto, whoever that is, well, I saw the trailer not the whole movie. I did watch the 2005 Batman Begins starring Christian Bale where Ken played the Batman's villain Ra's Al Ghul, I think he got killed in the movie :) And I also watched Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005 where he played the role of the Chairman. I watched it because I think the book is interesting and I love Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tiger movie last 2000. He also is General Kuribayashi in the 2006 World War II film Letters from Iwo Jima. I haven't watched it either but will do when I have the time. I might also watch its counterpart film, Flags of Our Fathers.

As I was searching for him on the internet, I learned that he has also filmed ads for American Express and (I did not expect this, the addicting and my favorite) Yakult. And he was featured in People's Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People edition, wow!

Note: It's Watanabe, not Tanabe, I know, but my dad said our surname was derived from Watanabe. It's a long story but really interesting so I'll make a separate post for that soon.

Tanabe Japanese Restaurant

Tanabe Japanese Restaurant, as the name obviously denotes, is a Japanese restaurant in Remedios Circle, Malate, Manila. I've been hearing about this restaurant for a while but never really got a chance to try to dine here. Then I heard another branch opened at Mall of Asia. I saw the restaurant while I was strolling in the mall one weekend. And then I finally saw the Malate branch when we passed by Remedios Circle and I was surprised to realize that it was just on the opposite side of the bar I went to, Uzziah Bar. I don't know if it's because of my Japanese ancestry but I'm definitely going to try their food really really soon. I heard lots of praises for this resto from reviews and other blogs. Mostly said that it is the best Japanese restaurant in the Philippines. I also learned that they have many Japanese customers so they probably offer authentic Japanese dishes. I want to try the Wagyu (Japanese beef) but it's a bit expensive. Let's see if I could save enough for that and make my own review. Until then...

Branches:

Malate (Remedios Circle)
553 Remedios St., Malate
City of Manila, Metro Manila
(02) 528-4688

SM Mall of Asia
SM Central Business Park, Bay City
Pasay City, Metro Manila
(02) 405-0288

Tanabe Racing Development

I think the most well-known Tanabe business for me would be the Tanabe Racing Development. I can see those cool car stickers everywhere I go, from small ones to the length of the whole windshield. For those of you who are clueless, it is an automotive parts manufacturer founded in Ikeda City, Osaka, Japan. The company have over 20 years of experience in the development of quality automotive parts for performance application, and takes pride in all their products engineered to the strictest of tolerances, produced with the highest quality materials, and made within their very own advanced ISO9001 (International Organization for Standardization) & JISQ9001 (Japanese Industrial Standard) certified manufacturing facility located in Shiga City, Osaka, Japan.

Here's where they are located:

Tanabe Racing Development USA, Inc.

1849 Western Way
Torrance, California 90501
USA

Tanabe Co., Ltd. Main Office 1-4-15 Onohara Higashi
Minoo-Shi, Osaka 562-0031
Japan

Tanabe R&D Factory

903-1 Ooaza Rokujo, Chuzu-Cho
Yasu-Gun, Shiga 520-2412
Japan

P.S. Oh, I remember my friend Steph giving me one of those Tanabe stickers, thanks myluvz wherever you are.