Couple gives librarygoers a taste of Bali, with Indonesian-inspired dishes, travel tips, education on the island and more

When visiting her home country of Malaysia, Alice Koh and her husband Shane Sorey like to explore other areas during the trip.

Koh had lived in Bali for a few months in the ’90s but hadn’t spent time there since, so in 2023, the pair, owners of SeraiMas, a Malaysian cuisine catering business, decided to visit the Indonesian island together after their annual trip to Malaysia.

Koh and Sorey try to stay off the beaten path, so when visiting Bali, they turned from the tourist-preferred beaches toward the places locals live. The pair met a young man who introduced them to his family then to a tour guide, who took them around Tenganan Pegrinsingan Village.

That guide introduced the pair to Jro Mangku Wayan Adi Gunadi, the village priest, and they instantly connected on a spiritual level. As they saw more of the village, Koh and Sorey noticed the differences between the school there compared to those in the richer, more commercial areas.

The library at Elementary 4 Tenganan School had just two shelves with a handful of books, many of them school exercise books, not books for leisure reading. The children were also without computers, something students in the richer areas of town had.

“What that did is it sparked a seed for a mission there,” Sorey, who is also a mental health and substance abuse counselor, said.

Koh and Sorey returned to Spokane and began pooling their own money together with donations from SeraiMas customers. With that money, they paid for school and sports uniforms and backpacks for the students as well as a projector for the school. They also refurbished eight laptop computers for the students and put money toward a music teacher’s salary so students could learn traditional instruments.

The pair will head back to Malaysia and Bali in December and hope to bring more refurbished laptops for the students as well as funds to grow the school’s library and continue to pay the music teacher’s salary.

Bali holds a special place in the pair’s heart, and they’re sharing the magic of the area with those in the Inland Northwest through “A Taste of Bali” at the Shadle Park Library on Saturday. The event is free to attend, but donations for the school will be accepted.

During the presentation, Koh and Sorey will share stories of their time in Bali as well as more about the work they’re doing with Elementary 4 Tenganan School. Sorey notes that the work the pair does is nondenominational, with no agenda of conversion, and funded themselves and through donations.

The pair will be wearing traditional Balinese clothes made by residents skilled in the village’s signature double ikat weaving, and will have Balinese wood carvings on display.

Attendees will also get to try a variety of Indonesian-inspired dishes, including lemper, or coconut rice with a savory filling, chicken satay and gado gado, or vegetable salad with peanut sauce.

Koh connected with the library last year after community educator Juan Juan Moses, ho knew about Koh’s cooking with Feast World Kitchen, invited her to host cooking classes that highlighted Malaysian dishes.

Koh, whose SeraiMas is part of a rotation of restaurants that serve out of Scale House Market, was thrilled at the opportunity to bring Malaysian culture to Spokane.

“For some reason that I’m still trying to figure out, everybody in the world knows about Thailand and Vietnam, and you don’t know ‘Where is Malaysia?’ ” she said. “SeraiMas, to me, it’s to introduce Malaysia to Spokane. I started at Feast World Kitchen in 2023, and I found out that some people from Seattle, especially Malaysians, will come when I cook there so it’s an endorsement for me that they’ll come for the food, because I always try to make everything as authentic as possible using the available ingredients here.”

Those endorsements mean more customers at SeraiMas, which means more funds raised for Elementary 4 Tenganan School. The pair are grateful for the support the Inland Northwest has shown to SeraiMas and their work in Bali, though Sorey said those looking to emanate the work they’re doing overseas can start by helping someone in their community.

Koh and Sorey also encourage people to be open to new experiences, even if it’s simply traveling to the next town over.

“Open your eyes, open your heart to embrace different perspective, different people and even the food,” Koh said.

Similarly, the commercial, tourism-heavy parts of Bali are beautiful, Koh and Sorey said, but if you venture outside of that area, you’ll see so many more interesting things and can learn from the locals.

“Bali to me is two words: family and serenity,” Sorey said.

“Let us introduce you to the Bali we’ve experienced,” Koh said.