After more than a century on Earth, Juan Cube has only a few rules he lives by.

Don't drink and don't smoke. Pray and walk every day. Dance a little. Eat a lot of vegetables.

And this, which he tells his grandkids: "Not just take, take, take. Give and take."

Cube, pronounced "coo-beh," turns 103 tomorrow.

This year's party will be a small affair at his Waipahu home, with his wife and only three of his 10 surviving children there. Most of the family, which included at last count yesterday 22 surviving grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren, are on the Mainland.

Daughter Purita Tejero, 62, said more than 300 family and friends gathered for his 100th party three years ago. The family is optimistic that there will be another big party — for his 105th birthday in two years.

"We hope," Tejero said.

Cube arrived in Hawai'i from the Philippines in 1924 as one of the "sakadas," the first Filipino immigrants who came to work for the sugar plantations.

The passage of time and the lack of formal records makes tracking former plantation workers an imprecise art. But according to labor union and Filipino Centennial Commission officials, Cube is one of perhaps a handful of surviving centenarian cane workers in Hawai'i.

Jun Colmenares, a local leader in the Filipino community and a member of the 2006 Filipino Centennial Commission, said Cube is one of a rare breed.

"They served as trailblazers for the community," Colmenares said. "If not for their hard work and sacrifice, I don't think the Filipino community would be where it is now. We owe a lot to them."

Born in Santa Ignacia in the province of Tarlac in central Luzon, Cube said he was one of about 50 Ilokanos who accepted jobs with the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association, hopped onboard a Japanese ship, and landed in Honolulu Harbor in 1924.

The next day, Cube rode another ship to Kaua'i, where he would spend the next 17 years. He worked at a plantation in Kealia, first as an irrigation ditch worker, then as a ticket boy.

Later, he worked as a delivery man in Hanapepe, selling goods out of a truck to plantation crews as they were getting off from work.

Cube sold all kinds of goods, "clothing, all kinds of garments, but not cigarettes or wine," he said.

In 1941, "that time (the economy was) kinda hard on Kaua'i," so the family moved to O'ahu where once again Cube worked in sugar, this time in Honouliuli. Cube said he has only a vague recollection of that time.

Restless, Cube picked up his wife and, at that point, 10 kids and returned to the Philippines, where he operated a rice farm in his hometown of Santa Ignacia.

But one by one, the children themselves got homesick and began trickling back to the United States.

In 1972, the widowed Cube returned to O'ahu with his two remaining children so they could be closer to the rest of the family. Two years later, Cube brought back his present wife, Felicidad. A former neighbor in Santa Ignacia, she is now 57 and working as a cook at McDonald's.

They live with her relatives in a modest Waipahu house, with two of his daughters in homes nearby.

Cube said he doesn't do too much during the day.

"God first," he said, adding that he prays at all times of the day when it suits him.

He walks a lot, mostly with a walker, which he still has enough strength to lift over a car hood if one is in his way.

Cube loves to eat. "When good eat, my body feel better," he said.

"That's it eh? Everybody like that," he said with a hearty laugh.

It's a diet that consists primarily of vegetables and fish. "Vegetables the best," he said. "All kinds, mix 'em up."

Adobo is a no-no. "Too fatty," he said.

He takes naps and watches TV, mostly CNN, his wife said.

He also likes to listen to music — and dance. Asked to show curious visitors, he immediately got up from his chair and began swaying his hips and waving his arms.

"I even catch him watching MTV," chimed in his granddaughter, Zelda Medina, 45.

"You gotta love music, make you live if you love music!" he said.

Arthritis prevents him from moving like he once did. And he recently found out he is diabetic. Other than that, he has no other major illnesses.

Daughter Tejero said his good humor, as well as his diet and exercise, are the keys to his longevity.

"He's a jolly guy, happy," Tejero said. "He loves to sing and dance."

One of Cube's biggest fans is KNDI radio personality Ernesto Bautista, who has paid tribute to Cube each year around the time of his birthday on his "Filipino Fiesta" show and co-emceed the 100th birthday party.

"We had a special dance for him and his wife, a waltz," Bautista said.

"We're looking forward to his 105th birthday. I told him, 'Only 24 months to go, hang in there, we're going to have a big party!' "

Bautista said he considers Cube his idol, and even has a nickname for him.

"I call him the water buffalo because a water buffalo is very strong, works hard and lasts long."

Like other grandkids and great-grandkids, Medina calls Cube "Apo," Ilokano for "grandfather."

"Apo has taught us to be healthy and be grateful for what we have," Medina said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.