Macau was flavour of the weekend in the newspapers here. The Sunday SCMP reported Macau's 14 casinos raked in HK$4 billion (US$512 million) last month in revenue. The Macau Government collected HK$6.5 billion in casino taxes in the first half of this year, up 42% on last year and making 78% of all Government revenue. Even bloody Willian Hung, the man who's 15 minutes is taking an awfully long time, had his Asia debut in Macau on the weekend (reports said takings were down significantly at that casino).

The genii at the SCMP have then realised there's a perfect way to drag the story out: combine Hong Kong's love of gambling with its love of property. So inevitably all this has been followed up with today's front page splash on Macau's booming property market. Admist all the hype there's even the priceless quote from a Macau property type: "This is unlike the property bubble that burst in 1993. This time, Macau's economy may be growing rapidly, and it may appear as if the property market is bubbling. But even if it is, it is a solid bubble that will not burst. Who knew there were such bubbles?

This is the same paper that followed up this story on an adult film company's recruitment efforts by sending a reporter and getting him to file a story on the experience. The article in Sunday's SCMP didn't even succeed as a schoolboy excursion in titilation. It's what we've come to expect from the SCMP...not very much.