I’ve been here (taipei) for a month, and honestly, i feel like there’s nothing much to do during weekends! i’m starting to get bored… care to share what keeps you busy?
Have a kid.
If you are one of the lucky few who actually has a 2 day weekend (I’m not 
), get on the train headed down the east coast and check out parts of Taiwan. Hualien is a favorite of mine and Taidong apparently has some awesome beaches although I have not gotten there yet.
Recreation in the city (Taipei anyway) seems to revolve around getting drunk and then spending the next day recovering… enjoy 
You can get a Lonely Planet guide book and go through it while you’re here. You can browse Forumosa and attend their monthly meet and greets. Visit Taipei’s tourism bureau - get off at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial MRT station.
But yes, drinking copiously, pub/bar crawls are a mainstay of many a Taipei’s Forumosan denizens.
So, what part of the city you live in? That might help.
There seems to be little difference between weekday and weekend for me. But take the advice about having children, you will be busy. 
Generally, Saturday is project work/house work/ and afternoon and evening with daughter. Exploring the alleys and running into new people can be a simple way to pass the afternoon. She at 9 months is the centre of attention and wants to talk to everyone.
Sunday is a bit of rest and project work.
Otherwise, the single people I know here tend to drink a lot and occasionally take short trips around the Island.
SHAMELESS PLUG:
You could always spend your Sunday afternoons at Chit Chat cafe enjoying the company of the Forumosa Games Club 
I gave Dofu a bath today. And we found one of his old toys behind a trunk in the living room.
If you lay in a good night’s drinking on Friday after work, it paves the way for a full day’s bingeing on Saturday, and an early beer start on Sunday - bed by midnight.
Hexuan wrote
Yeah, it’s all a matter of panning and strategic timing.
Weekends are, for me at least, a time of sloth: drinking, sports on TV and drinking, meeting friends and drinking, and surfing the net while drinking. I hate crowds so I reserve most of my travels for Mon-Fri. I’m often free during the day so that gives me time to travel without the nightmarish traffic and crowds of the weekend.
Don’t buy the current edition. The info is seriously out of date. The new edition will be out in November. In the meantime, pick up a copy of Taipei Day Trips II at Eslite.
Also check out the Travel forums. There are endless things to do just in the north of Taiwan.
Here is my weekend…every weekend:
Sat morning: Sleep in a little late. Either go to work to supervise detention or read at home.
Sat afternoon: Take the boys to the Peace Pool.
Sat night: Aikido practice.
Sunday morning: Aikido practice.
Sunday afternoon: Take the boys to the park or swimming.
Sunday night: Dungeons.
Most of the foreigners in Taiwan, one word -
DRINK
Jeez, there is sooo much stuff to do, it’s a pain there only are 52 weekends/year. Here are some of the things I do on weekends (apart from cleaning up and doing the laundry):
- do one of the easily accessible hikes
- take the MRT to a part of town where I haven’t been and walk around there
- go to Bitan or Tamshui
- take the train to some easily accessible place like Yingge, Jiufen or one of the beaches - we went to Yingge for the first time on Saturday, and as always, I was surprised how easy it is to take a train somewhere
- take a stroll through the lanes, along the river, through Water Park or across the NTU campus
- buy flowers at the flower market
- spend half the day having Brunch on the Carnegie’s patio
- go to a concert in the National Concert Hall
- check out Culture Express for interesting exhibitions and pay them a visit
- meet with friends to watch a movie, play games or just stroll around
- check out the stores at Kungkuan or some other part of town for clothes/cds/books/green shoes
- go out for one (two,three,four…) Gin Tonics at one of the many bars/pubs
Rainy days or lazy weekends will be spent:
- reading books, watching movies, curling up on the sofa with my cat, calling friends, writing emails (and posting on Forumosa)
I totally agree with the suggestion to check out the threads in the travel or “Living in Taiwan” forum. Or you can always pay Mucha Man for special information Iif you have time, take a plane to a place in Taiwan you haven’t been (I’ve never done that - one day…). Or you can always rent a scooter/car and go somewhere like Ilan or Suao, spend the night and come back on Sunday.
If only a year had more weekends…
That’s the spirit Iris. As for paying me, kind words are all I need. 
Just get yourself a motorbike or scooter (if you don’t have one already), and head out of Taipei in any direction until you reach the less inhabited or preferably all-but-uninhabited hilly parts that surround the city. Scout out a promising-looking river and follow it until you find a fairly substantial stream that flows into it from what appears to be an otherwise largely inaccessible, undeveloped (i.e., unconcreted and uncultivated) hillside area. Put on a pair of non-slip shoes (NT$250~400 from any shop that sells fishing gear) and go exploring upstream. You’re as likely as not to find idyllic pools for swimming in, lovely waterfalls and cascades to frolic in, myriad wonders of flora and fauna, and a thousand of the other enchanting natural features that once earned Taiwan its laudatory appellation in Portuguese.
If you can find a congenial companion of the opposite sex to go with you, especially one who’s game for shedding clothes and giving the birds and macaques a display of uninhibited human playfulness, I guarantee you’ll have the most pleasurable time you could ever imagine and will work up a splendid appetite to dine in some little eatery you chance upon as you ride in a state of blissful contentment back to Taipei.
I’ve got to agree with Iris on the train thing - having finally escaped the bounds of Taipei to go to Fulong, I was amazed at how cheap and quick it was to get to somewhere so refreshingly different. I’m definitely planning to use my Saturdays (and a few other free days here and there) to start zipping around the place by train.
I know, a lot of you already said how easy it is on the Travel board, but it’s always different finding out first-hand.
That sounds like a good topic for a new thread.
[url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/easy-train-rides-from-taipei/11015/1 train rides from Taipei[/url].
Brian
[quote=“Omniloquacious”]Just get yourself a motorbike or scooter (if you don’t have one already), and head out of Taipei in any direction until you reach the less inhabited or preferably all-but-uninhabited hilly parts that surround the city. Scout out a promising-looking river and follow it until you find a fairly substantial stream that flows into it from what appears to be an otherwise largely inaccessible, undeveloped (i.e., unconcreted and uncultivated) hillside area. Put on a pair of non-slip shoes (NT$250~400 from any shop that sells fishing gear) and go exploring upstream. You’re as likely as not to find idyllic pools for swimming in, lovely waterfalls and cascades to frolic in, myriad wonders of flora and fauna, and a thousand of the other enchanting natural features that once earned Taiwan its laudatory appellation in Portuguese.
.[/quote]
Perfect advice… 
Funny thing that. I think the humans enjoyed the show me and my friends put on at Fulong over the weekend just as much as the wildlife. 
Well, maybe not me since I’m a big, hairy mexican. 
Although I will say this…every single weekend is what I like to call “adventure time.” I usually go driving around the vicinity of Taoyuan County, and sometimes take trips as far as Xinzhu and Fulong. There is definitely a lot to do if you cast yourself to the wind and let the road take you where it may on this beautiful island. 
I honestly cannot remember the last time I spent a weekend night drinking (the fact that forumosa happy hours NEVER happen on a weekend is partly to blame ). There’s so much more to Taiwan that it seems rather wasteful to spend it indoors doing the exact same thing you could be doing back home. That being said, this thread has provided a nice place to start for ideas. I’d like to add a trip to the beaches of Kenting on the southernmost tip of the island or the beaches of Baishawan in the north make nice weekend trips. A trip to Wulai, Yelioh, Beitou’s hot springs or even just people watching at one of the large parks of Taipei is much better than sitting on a bar stool. Jump on a bus and get off where ever tickles your fancy. Huh, me advocating public transportation…
Happy exploring!
And, as tetsuo said, when you’re finished exploring, come join us at Games Club.