Go very softly around the Oriental quarter (3)

I believe the answer is:

pep

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'go' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'very softly around the oriental quarter' is the wordplay.
'very softly' becomes 'ppp'.
'around' indicates the central letters.
'the oriental' becomes 'e'.
'quarter' becomes 'p' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The central letter of 'ppp' is 'p'.
'p'+'e'+'p'='PEP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pep that I've seen before include "Energy or enthusiasm" , "Palindrome for vigour" , "Palindromic vim and vigour" , "Palindrome for vitality or energy" , "Ginger; tax-free investment" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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